Echoup de grâce: Endure
by Malenless
Summary: -AU, Echo Series Pt.4- With a war on the horizon and all generally going to shit, Ichigo finds himself the center of attention once more when sinners of Hell demand for his aid. Happens to be he has the power to destroy the chains that bind Togabito to Hell. Also happens to be that something in him died after the incident on Sōkyoku Hill...IchiGin. COMPLETE!
1. Pieces to a Shattered Soul

**A/N:** Welcome to part four of the **Echo Series** created by yours truly. This is the second part of the second (and, as of 2018, renamed) **Love and Tragedy** portion of the series, and the first **Trial and Bonding** portion can be read my profile. I recommend you read that portion first, or you are going to be a bit confused. This part is also _considerably_ shorter than _Echoup de théâtre: Cache_. Please keep this in mind!

Like the previous parts, this story is told as an album (a music album) of events. The underlying theme of the series is echoes.

Title is from "coup de grâce", which can mean a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal; an action or event that serves as the culmination of a bad or deteriorating situation. It translates to "blow of mercy". To endure is to suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently; to remain in existence; to last.

So here's how this is gonna go, guys. Since it's so close to school time, for me, I might have to upload like once every week. We'll see as time goes on...

 **1\. Pieces to a Shattered Soul**

* * *

A tall figure stood at the edge of an eight-story building, eyes closed and mind barren of thoughts. It was a young man, his waist-length orange hair gently fluttering in the breeze. An emotionless mask adorned his face, his hands limp at his sides. He was so still, he seemed to be asleep, despite the deep breaths he was taking. The breaths were made with great effort, as if he was trying to calm himself.

And, well...he was.

Ichigo took one more, deep inhale, exhaling through his mouth. Ocher eyes opened, gazing towards the sky.

He did it again.

He lost control.

It wasn't that he _couldn't_ control his power. It was merely that there were times when something triggered him, his nightmares were so vivid, or his memories overwhelmed him so, that his very hard-earned control went right out the window. If not for them, and his extreme reactions to them, he would be okay.

But he wasn't.

As things were, he was a time bomb. Usually, everyone walked on eggshells around him, but he was too mentally exhausted to care enough.

 _Ugh..._

He tried to recall a time similar to this, and the only thing he could compare it to was life after the loss of his mother. Only, his family dealt with things differently. They took on roles to satisfy the void with themselves. Even he did. He became the one not to judge by his appearance. A good student, despite the stereotype as a delinquent. A fighter, despite never having violent tendencies. A sort of medium, and only because he couldn't find a better term for the ability to see spirits.

This time, after the loss of his mate...something inside of him died.

He was certain of it. It was an almost tangible feeling, a void within himself that could never be filled. He felt it in his heart and in his soul. In his mind, he would hear that voice, that unique, soft voice with a distinct accent. Sometimes it was so loud, he thought it was in the real world. A strange sort of loneliness ate at him, and he hated how no matter the amount of people around him, the feeling never went away.

On one hand, he found himself pathetic. The strange blackouts, the inability to handle certain memories, the nightmares, the triggers, the trauma. Because that had to be it, right? He was traumatized. After all he went through, it took the death of a loved one— _again_ —to traumatize him. But never before like this.

On the other hand, he understood his situation. His condition. He _was_ traumatized, he _was_ unable to cope, and he _was_ having adverse side-effects. In his heart—his broken, damaged heart—he knew he could get better. _Better_. Not necessarily healed. As Zangetsu said, it would hurt. Forever.

He tried to do things to ease the hurting and overcome his trauma. He meditated, he kept himself in pleasant company, he sparred with Zangetsu in his inner world. He walked often, he listened to music, he slowly eased into hearing Gin's name again, being reminded of Hell.

And he _was_ better from before. He _could_ communicate, now. He _did_ eat at least two meals a day. He _could_ say Gin's name without losing his mind. He _did_ talk about Hell. He _could_ manage a smile, even if it was only by a bit.

But something inside of him was still dead.

It was August, eight months since...the incident. He was finally legally an adult. And it showed in ways he was _almost_ sure no one noticed. At least, for now. It had only been a month since he turned twenty, after all...

But considering the amount of highly intelligent people in his company, the likelihood they weren't paying attention to him wasn't very high. Especially given his...issues.

But quite frankly, he didn't care.

 _Ugh..._

Closing his eyes, he sighed. What would _he_ think of him, now...? Would he be disappointed? Would he be understanding? Would he put up the mask and merely smile like the bastard he was?

Ichigo winced at his thoughts, blinking the blackness away. Ever since the incident, he found himself rather bitter over how he was never told that the Hōgyoku was embedded in his mate's soul. He was also...angry at said mate of his for lying to him. Likewise, though it was easy to hide, he was angry at Kisuke and Shinji, as well. He didn't want to be angry at anyone close to him, but as things stood, he wasn't in any condition to control his thoughts, either.

It was sad, really.

"You're not going to jump, are you?"

Strange how he could hear a smile in the voice. He continued ignoring the man, keeping his eyes closed. He had been watched for some time, now. He just didn't care enough to pay the man any mind.

"Because if you are, I'm kind of morally obligated to stop you."

He almost rolled his eyes, then glanced back. "What do you want?" His voice was low. It was probably from all the screaming he did earlier. Then again, he spoke softly, now. No point in raising his voice. Barely even any reason to talk...

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He liked to converse with his close friends, which included Nel. He liked talking to Hiyori, oddly enough. He even still liked to talk to Kisuke and Shinji, despite everything.

 _Otherwise_ , there wasn't much of a reason to talk.

"I spotted you and thought I'd make sure you're not going to off yourself."

"Why?"

A sound was made as if that was a ludicrous question. "We're kindred spirits, Kurosaki." The smile dropped from the voice. "Seriously, are you jumping or not?"

He glanced down at the nightscape below. Colors, lights and sounds. So many of them. "I'd probably survive."

"That's...terrifying."

He finally turned around. It was the man with combed-back black hair, Kūgo. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he stared him down. He hated how he had to talk more than his new norm. "What do you actually want?"

A black brow rose, the same signature smile forming on Kūgo's face. "Perceptive." He took a few steps closer. "I'm here to inform you that the beginnings of a civil war are occurring in the Soul Society. I thought you might want to know. I was also wondering if you've reconsidered my proposition to join Xcution."

Xcution. A group of exiles, consisting of three Shinigami, a Fullbringer, a Mod-Soul, one human, and a Bount. There were once two Bounts, but...

Briefly, Ichigo closed his eyes. "One of your men tried to kill me."

Kūgo shook his head. "Not kill. He was only testing you. You are as intuitive as the rumors say..."

Slightly turning his head to the side, Ichigo had to wonder. Where, exactly, where they getting their intel? Last time, he was told their Mod-Soul companion was the reason they even knew of him. That must mean they could get to the Soul Society.

And...a civil war? Whatever could have caused _that?_

Looking away dismissively, he began to leave, intending to jump into the air. He really didn't appreciate a "test" being an attempt to injure him. That, and he wasn't interested in their group of misfits. He already belonged to one such group and was perfectly satisfied with them.

"You broke his nose."

He stopped, his upper lip twitching. "He's lucky I didn't kill him outright."

"You're really different from last year." Kūgo approached again, moving much closer than before. "I remember you were extremely bothered when Eiri was killed...and now you speak of how you could have killed another of my comrades."

Ichigo rotated his jaw before turning around. "You're their leader. I get it. You never did get an apology for what happened to Amano. But then there's this thing where you tried to induct me into your group. That's highly suspicious."

"Well, it wasn't like _you_ killed Eiri." Kūgo raised a brow. "It was your friend."

"Said _friend_ wasn't in his right—" Ichigo paused at a familiar burning that blossomed inside of him. He needed to end the conversation. Exhaling deeply, he snapped his eyes shut as black briefly clouded his vision. "I apologize. I'm sorry you lost one of your comrades. Please don't bother me again."

With that, he swiveled around and jumped into the air. Kūgo didn't follow, and he moved quickly, distancing himself from the Bount as if he _was_ being followed. He narrowed his eyes. Kūgo would undoubtedly try to talk to him, again. He just had a feeling.

He learned to trust his feelings a long time ago.

~:Edgr:E:~

It was likely because of where he now called home, but Ichigo enjoyed the night. The air was different, as was the atmosphere. It made him want to do things he felt were inappropriate to do at night. Not an "obscene" sort of inappropriate. More like a "this is weird" inappropriate.

The Hollow slammed into the ground, and he landed hard on its belly, causing it to cry out in pain.

Feasting on Hollows was one of those things.

He clawed at the Hollow's throat, and it gurgled before going limp. He took a moment to observe it. For the longest time, he was accustomed to the purification of Hollows. The death of a Hollow was something else. It was like killing an animal for slaughter.

 _Ugh..._

He decided to try not to eat to his fill, this time. That was his norm, but it left him feeling heavy and lethargic. So, he only ripped off a few of the large tentacles, dragging the Hollow somewhere out of sight. Sitting cross-legged upon his kill, he gulped down one of the appendages, an apathetic expression upon his face. It was a drastic difference from the way he had been moments ago.

The hunt and killing normally gave him a magnificent high...

His expression remained unchanged as he ate another tentacle. The long limb hung from his mouth as he at the rest of it, trying not to get into his thoughts but there, regardless. Lately, his soul had been itching. It wasn't just his soul, but his mind as well. If he didn't go hunting and killing Hollows, and then devouring them, the itch would persist. It was an itch he had to scratch, or he was going to go crazy.

If he wasn't crazy already...

 _Ugh..._

After he finished off his meal, he took Zangetsu off his back and stabbed the Hollow's mask, purifying the rest of its body. Landing on his feet after it dissolved, he sheathed his sword and glanced off into the distance. He sensed another Hollow much further away.

A wicked smirk formed on his face.

One more for the night? Hell yeah.

~:Edgr:E:~

Before long, he rested in a park, slumped against a tree. One of his legs was raised, the other stretched out, and his hands rested on his stomach. His clothes were slightly blood stained, his hair splayed out beneath him, and Zangetsu rested at his side. He was relaxing, nearly asleep, but kept his senses alert.

He could sense the animals in the park. Most had disappeared once he brought a Hollow over, but some were returning to do whatever it was they had been doing prior. Insects chirped around him. People walked, so far away, living their lives...unaware of the monsters nearby...

Or _the_ monster nearby.

He took out four Hollows. He ended up devouring parts from all of them, anyway. That was too many for his otherwise fairly human—and very much alive—body. But even Kisuke hadn't been able to "humanely dissect him" enough to figure out how his body worked.

Oh, and all of this—eating Hollows, his enhanced five senses, the whole deal with wanting a mate, so on and so forth—was apparently because his body went through a "second puberty". Something about how, since he was part _Hollow_ , a Hollow that was not an Arrancar, he was closer to the feral Hollows than he was to Arrancar. He was closer to a Vasto Lorde, more appropriately.

 _Ugh..._

Slanting his eyes open, he stared at nothing.

He ought to go back home.

But there was something on the edges of his senses...and it was nearing him. He let it. It was different, unlike anything he ever sensed before. Or maybe, he had sensed something like it before. It was dark, sinister.

Like...like...

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

He glanced up to see four figures draped in black clothes with masks vaguely resembling skulls standing on reishi particles. They were covered from head to toe, not a single bit of them visible despite showing their arms, legs, hands, and feet. They were merely covered. There were two tall, slender figures, a shorter, rounder one, and a large, hulking one.

Slowly, he moved to his feet, grasping Zangetsu in his hand. He didn't move his eyes from them and remained quiet.

"Come," said the same one that spoke before. It had an interesting, masculine voice. It was commanding, in a way. "We need you to do something for us."

Ichigo merely blinked at them, then looked away, intending to leave. He really needed to do something about that target symbol on his soul.

Realizing this, the round one said, "Can we show it to him _now?_ "

There was a sigh from the first one. "Kurosaki Ichigo. Come with us...and you can have what you desire most."

Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo softly scoffed, continuing to look away from them. As if they would know what it was he desired most, above all else. He wanted a lot of things. He wanted to see his family. He wanted to see his friends in Karakura-chō— _if_ they still lived there. He wanted his companions to have normal lives, again. He wanted the person who killed his mate dead. He wanted...

His grasp on Zangetsu tightened.

There was just...too much he wanted.

They wouldn't know where to start.

Then something white appeared in the hand of the one that seemed to be the leader of them. It looked like a bundle of cloth. Stepping a bit closer and lowering somewhat, the figure let the cloth fall.

It looked and felt harmless, so Ichigo took it from out of the air. Placing Zangetsu on his back, he unraveled the cloth and gazed upon it.

It was a white yukata.

A white...bloodstained yukata...

With the largest stain...where the heart would be...

His own heart gave a painful throb. His throat clenched shut. He broke out into a sweat. His soul began to scream.

The memories hit him like a freight train. Blackness began to creep along the edges of his vision.

"How...did you..."

"We know where he is, Kurosaki Ichigo." The leader of the quartet lowered to the ground. "Your most precious possession."

He could barely see. "He's...not—"

"You claimed him. He's yours, is he not?"

A low, reaffirming growl was the response, and even the human side of his psyche was inclined to agree.

Gin _was_ his.

Not in his right mind, Ichigo breathed heavily. His vision had almost completely blackened out, and he felt as if he was only in partial control of his body. His eyes had turned pure ebony, and his nails changed into claws. His choker began to chirp, a soft sound that he completely ignored.

In an ominous, echoic voice imbued with warbles, he demanded, "Where...is my mate?" He bore his teeth, grasping tightly onto the cloth as if it was a lifeline. "Where...is Gin?"

The figure placed its hands behind its back before stepping backwards to a blue, almond-shaped portal that appeared. Within, a vortex of bloodred was visible.

He could hear the smirk in its voice.

"In Hell, Kurosaki Ichigo. In Hell."

 _Hell_.

 _Hell_...

Gin was in Hell.

The memories came back, like a slap to the face, and everything went black. It was like trying to see his hand in darkness so deep, it could be right in front of his face, but he couldn't see it. There were sounds, growling, laughter, the clash of steel on steel, shouting. But none of that mattered.

He was back on Sōkyoku Hill, and Gin was ripped out of his arms. This time, he was held back by such powerful grips, he couldn't jump up to the Gate.

More, louder growls.

 _Get off me! Gin's going to...!_

He watched, helpless, as Gin's smiling face was the last thing he saw before the Gates slammed shut.

His heart thumped wildly in his chest, a helpless, agonized howl ripping from his mouth.

 _Gin...Gin...!_

Thrashing against his capturers, he felt tears roll down his face.

More screams.

"Ichigo!"

He came to realize there was pain around his neck, and his screams began to diminish. Something had pierced his hierro, _drilled_ into it, and he could almost feel the potent drug flow through his system.

Slowly, he stopped thrashing. Groaning, he slumped to his knees with the help of arms and hands.

"Ichigo?"

Something broke through the darkness. Figures...some lights...more voices...

"Hold him up, Chad."

His head lolled about, and he blearily recognized the concerned face of his best friend holding him up at his side. "Chad..." he mumbled, rapidly losing consciousness. His voice was too low for him to be understood.

The last thing he heard was the sound of a portal of some kind closing.

The darkness swallowed him once more.

* * *

He didn't dream. There was only the peaceful nothingness...

" _Ichigo_."

"Zangetsu..." He could sense that his surroundings had changed. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Sideways blue buildings that were cracked and grey clouds met his sight. He stared forward, eyelids half-mast. "What...happened?"

A white form stood beside him. "You had another spell, King."

He grimaced. "I don't deserve that title..."

Zangetsu gave him a hard nudge with his boot, causing him to grunt. "What'd I tell you about that? You _are_ my King, and you'd better hope a time never comes when I don't call you that."

Sighing, he nodded and sat up, glancing at the broken building he laid on with another grimace. At least his inner world wasn't full of water.

As if aware of what he was thinking, the avatar explained, "It's not your soul that is in turmoil—at the moment. It's your mind." He waved a hand. "'Course, you can see your soul is...broken, King."

"Yeah." Ichigo pulled a knee up, his other stretched out. "I'm...sorry."

A huff. "It's not your fault. If it was, that would be another story." Yin-yang orbs glanced down at him. "You're not healed, inside. It'll take a lot of time. Years. I can handle the broken buildings. I hate being submerged, surrounded by pathetic little houses."

"I can't promise anything..."

"I don't expect you to."

Sighing again, Ichigo lowered his head. "We should...spar again, sometime."

"I like the sound of that," Zangetsu lightly chuckled.

Looking up at him, tawny eyes shone with some excitement.

Zangetsu smiled back, but it didn't last. He looked away in thought. "Just keep goin' forward, King. Keep tryin', don't give up."

Nodding, Ichigo moved to stand. He then flew towards the sky.

* * *

His eyes opened slowly. They felt heavy, and it took several attempts before he could keep them open. With effort, he moved to sit up in the bed, groaning. He touched the choker around his neck. Helpful bastard. While it took the form of a simple black choker, it was a device. It was based upon his old one used to suppress his reiatsu, now modified to sense when he was about to lose control and...tranquilized him.

Sighing, he lowered his hand and stood from the bed. Bright moonlight entered his window. It was lunch time. He opened the door and used sonído to cross the distance to the dining room. Along the way, he was amiably greeted by some Arrancar. He didn't speak, but did nod at them. At this point, everyone was accustomed to his lack of conversation.

Entering the kitchen, he was greeted by the sight of his companions just sitting down. Smiles were flashed at him.

"Hey, Ichigo." Kon beckoned him over.

Opening his mouth, Ichigo began to apologize, then thought otherwise. There was no point in doing that, anymore. He didn't see any faces of annoyance or ire. In fact, they seemed glad to see he was up. Letting his mouth close, he moved over to sit between Uryū and Chad. Almost immediately, a bowl of miso soup and rice was placed before him. He blinked up at Mashirō, who had placed it in front of him.

"Since you missed breakfast," she said with a smile.

Nodding in thanks, he took up his chopsticks and bit into a piece of daikon.

Conversation went on around him as he ate. While he didn't participate, he was glad to hear them talking. When they were silent around him, it both irritated him and made him feel like a mood-killer. In the beginning, that did happen a few times. He didn't understand why in the beginning...until he realized they were likely talking about...the incident. Or his mate. One of the two.

He paused as his heart throbbed. Closing his eyes, he ignored it.

"Ichigo."

Opening an eye, he glanced at Lisa.

"Do you know who those people were who approached you?" she asked, looking at him seriously.

Conversation quieted, so he imagined it was something important. He shook his head.

She frowned. "They were Togabito. Sinners."

At first, he didn't understand. Then it clicked.

They were from Hell.

Several grave nods went around upon seeing his expression. "Do you know why they came to you?" Shinji asked from beside Lisa.

A crease formed between orange brows. "They...wanted me to do something for them..." He wracked his brain, trying to remember what else happened. "Then..." His eyes widened.

Everyone froze when he stiffened, his eyes wide. He stared at the table, recalling the bloodstained yukata.

"They...mentioned Gin," he said softly, his voice quavering. If the room hadn't been so quiet, they probably wouldn't have heard him. All was still and silent as he tried to control himself.

He shut his eyes and lowered his chopsticks, hand clenching on the table. He could sense the atmosphere shift to a wary, concerned one, and it irritated him. He breathed from his mouth, calming down.

After a few moments, nothing happened.

Shinji pursed his lips, eyeing him. He was hesitant to continue "Ichigo...They're likely to approach you again. When they do, you can't let them manipulate you. Little is known about Hell, in the grand scheme of things." He frowned. "I got no idea why they'd want you, but you have to understand...you're valuable."

Blinking, Ichigo looked up at him questioningly.

"Think about it." Shifting, Shinji raised a hand. "I think it's safe to say you're one of the most powerful beings on the planet."

As Ichigo blinked in surprise, hums and sounds of agreement went around the table. He glanced at everyone. Even Uryū, Chad and Kon seemed inclined to agree, despite their lack of knowledge.

"That means you might be able to do things no other being can..."

"Not to mention," added Hachi, "your blood is also valuable. Someone like Kurotsuchi, for instance, might want you for experimentation."

Ichigo flinched at the mention of the 12th Division captain. Jaw locked, he looked back at the table, but understood. That would explain why there seemed to be a target symbol on his soul. He gave a sigh.

But...if they came from Hell, surely they knew... _something_ about Gin. Not to mention the yukata...

As if aware of what he was thinking, Shinji eyed the young man. "Ichigo...Please. Don't even think about it."

Instead of responding or reacting, Ichigo went back to drinking his soup. He stayed quiet.

Eventually, conversation continued around him. Despite this, his mind wandered.

What if there was some way to see Gin again...?


	2. DOWN THE VEIN

The world was askew. Buildings were broken and cracked. The clouds were grey. For most of the eight months since _that day_ , this was the norm. In the earlier days, the world went between a submerged little town to a towering city of wrecked skyscrapers. Not even Ichigo's soul could blame him for his state of mind and spirit.

Three figures fought within the sideways world. Cries of attacks, of surprise and of glee rang out, echoing between the buildings. Ichigo dodged an attack thrown at him by his Quincy avatar, who wielded sword-like arrows that he grabbed with his hands. He then blocked a blade held by a chain and ran forward to give its unarmed wielder a Getsuga Tenshō.

Laughing, Shirō pulled back his blade in time to parry it, sending it away to crash into a building. He then spun his sword by its chain, sending off miniature attacks while cutting grooves into the building he was on. Yabach raised his sword to parry Ichigo's own blade when it flew at him.

Rolling out of the trajectories of the small white and red energies, Ichigo brought his sword back just as Shirō slashed at him. A smile was on Shirō's face, mirroring the one on Ichigo's. Seeing it only widened the avatar's smile, and he grinned. "Getsuga Tenshō."

The dome-like energy exploded, engulfing the top portion of the buildings. Shirō appeared in the air, waiting for Ichigo to emerge from the dust. He wasn't disappointed. Ichigo rose up, unscarred, and swung down, only for an arrow to fly at him, sending him into the side of a building.

To both avatar's delight, Ichigo chuckled, despite being impaled to the structure. He freed himself of the arrow by pulling it out, then threw it back at an unsuspecting Shirō, who was airborne in preparation for an attack.

"Oh, shi—"

As the white avatar took his turn at flying away, Yabach and Ichigo clashed.

The smile of excitement was still on Ichigo's face, glistening in his otherwise dark eyes. He glanced back in time to see Shirō reappear behind him, firing another Getsuga. Both Ichigo and Yabach moved away, and as Ichigo was in the air, he parried and arrow and a miniature crescent-shaped energy while falling back.

While falling, a sudden hail of arrows came his way. He grabbed his smaller blade at his hip. "Getsuga...Jūjishō!"

The massive x-shaped blast countered most of the arrows, and he dodged several of the others. He saw the cero coming and fired another normal Getsuga at it, splitting it in half. The two halves of the cero were obliterated the building behind him.

He was still falling. He looked up to see a white figure coming at him quickly, jumping from side to side on buildings. Shirō had activated his Bankai, and he came at Ichigo with impressive speed. Ichigo blocked at his right, the movement so fast, it was even more impressive he could catch it at all, then at his left in the same manner. Shirō appeared above him and immediately fired a cero, and Ichigo countered it with another Getsuga Jūjishō.

Landing on a building's side, he was met by a slash from Yabach. He parried it but flew down again to another building. While falling, several massive arrows appeared in the air, aiming for him.

"Aw, man," he said with a grimace.

The first he dodged, only to parry a blade swinging at him from below. He took a second arrow, and it impaled him yet again atop a lower building. The other four also hit him, destroying the building and kicking up dust.

There was an explosion of black and red as Ichigo emerged in Bankai. The first one he went for was Shirō, who was slicing through the dust in the same moment Ichigo appeared before him. As the avatar went flying into the side of a building, he sent a Getsuga Tenshō after him for good measure. Smirking, Ichigo clashed blades with a smaller form of Yabach, who was wielding his physical blade. Upon seeing Ichigo's expression, Yabach smiled.

It was good to see Ichigo really, truly smiling. So rarely was he happy, nowadays...

What felt like several hours later, all three collapsed, spent from their rigorous, fast-paced sparring. Ichigo sat back on his arms, out of Bankai, as was Shirō, who laid on his back. Yabach was back in his older form, and he sat with his knee raised while the other rested closer to his body. He smiled at the two before him.

"That...was awesome," Shirō laughed with a wide grin.

Ichigo nodded, panting softly. "Yeah. Felt good..." His gaze lowered, his smile steadily dropping.

Both avatars internally sighed. It never took long before Ichigo was somehow reminded of the one he lost.

Standing, Ichigo released his Shikai and placed his ōdachi on his back. He smiled at them. "Thank you."

Shirō sat up. "Anytime, King."

Yabach nodded. "Come back soon."

"Of course." Ichigo's smile lingered for a moment longer. As he turned towards the sky, it dropped.

He jumped from building to building until he made it back to the open sky.

~:Edgr:E:~

Opening his eyes, his sight met the sand of Hueco Mundo. His legs were crossed, and Zangetsu was in his lap. For nearly every other day, and in the early days at least once a week, he performed jinzen and sparred against the avatars in his inner world. There was really no one else he could spar with, as he was just too powerful. He could hold back, but then he didn't get any pleasure out of the spar.

Cries rang out a distance from him, and he looked to his far right. Kon was sparring against Nel, and Chad and Uryū were sparring against each other. They were in the sandy "training area" of Las Noches for the umpteenth time, keeping their battle reflexes sharp.

After eight months, the Arrancar, Vizard, the few Shinigami, and his three friends had become accustomed to one another. Chad, Ichigo and the Vizard were basically treated like Arrancar, themselves—particularly Ichigo. It helped that he naturally had a Hollow-like nature, especially within the past several months...

He went to his feet. There wasn't much to do in Hueco Mundo, not that he was bothered by it. There was an uneasy calm in the air on even a normal day. It started when the Shinigami that were once stationed in Hueco Mundo simply disappeared, one day. After all the work they had been doing, tinkering around with Hollow leftovers and whatnot, it was a little suspicious. Ichigo was of the mind that it had something to do with that civil war thing Kūgo had mentioned.

That is, if Kūgo was telling the truth at all...

But Ichigo didn't see why he couldn't trust that little bit of information. He didn't quite trust Kūgo himself, however.

In any case, Ichigo didn't mind living in Hueco Mundo. It settled something inside of him, which he knew was the same for Chad. The air was rich with reishi, which was good for Uryū, and Kon was surrounded by powerful fighters who forced him to get better. The Vizard—well, they stayed much the same, on the outside. Inside, Ichigo could sense that something had settled within them, too. It was likely their inner Hollows.

Kisuke, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta usually stayed to the "human" portion of Las Noches, only coming out when they wanted to train, watch training, or converse with Tier. Generally, they tried to stay out of the way as much as possible, which was understandable. Tessai and Kisuke _were_ Shinigami, after all. Interestingly the opposite, Uryū wasn't bothered by the Arrancar, and they didn't bother him, despite being a Quincy.

That, or Uryū was remarkably good at tolerating things for the greater good...

Ichigo moved with high-speed through the sandy space and to the spectator area. Kisuke was there, resting on a cushioned seat near the wall.

"Good morning, Ichigo-san," Kisuke greeted amiably.

Ichigo glanced at him. "'Morning."

"What do you plan on doing, today?"

He shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets, and looked forward. He saw Kisuke nod out the corner of his eye, then looked down the hall and disappeared.

* * *

Kurikomo-shi. It was a modest-sized city. Recently, Ichigo found himself visiting it quite often. Recently, as in roughly within the past four months. From what he could recall, he wasn't entirely coherent—barely even _alive_ —during the first four or so months after...the incident.

Even more recently, with Kūgo near, along with the others of Xcution, and the Togabito trying to do...whatever, it probably wasn't the wisest of choices to be in Kurikomo-shi. But the city was sentimental to him. It was where he met Gin after the war. It was where he and Gin often traveled to, doing whatever or nothing at all, enjoying each other's company. It was where he, his friends and Gin would hang out. When days were better, everyone awaited the inevitable...but times were better.

Crouched on the edge of another tall building in a city, he relaxed with his eyes closed. His arms rested on his thighs, and his hands were limp before him. For some reason, he liked doing this, being high up over the nightscape of a city. The sounds were distant enough that they weren't irksome, and because he was so high, it was easier to spread out his senses to get a grasp on activity. Granted, it wasn't as if obstacles impeded his superior senses, but it was just an impression.

Softly, he exhaled. The summer air was inviting. It made him want to do something. Normally, he spent his time in the city beating the shit out of a Hollow or two before eating it. On this night, while his body was itching to do an activity, his mind was perfectly content with his unusual meditation...

 _"Why don'tcha just tell me what's got ya all mopey."_

His eyes slanted open.

There it was again.

 _His_ voice. So clear in his mind.

He glanced up. "I miss you," he whispered to the heavens.

That's what had him all mopey.

Blinking the darkness and tears out of his eyes, he lowered his head. Someone was approaching his location, a member of Xcution. He sighed softly to himself. This man never gave up.

"We need to stop meeting like this atop buildings, Kurosaki."

It was Kūgo, again, of course.

"You still don't plan on jumping, right?"

He didn't answer.

"Here's an idea. You step back from the edge of the building and we go get a drink or something."

Orange brows slightly furrowed as Ichigo actually considered.

It _had_ been a while since he had a drink...

He doubted his friends and everyone else would approve of his new drinking habits, but...

He turned and stepped down from the building's edge. He looked the man in the eye between his hair. "You're paying."

~:Edgr:E:~

That was one of the last things Ichigo remembered before everything became dark and pleasant. He wasn't thinking about Gin or his episodes or...anything. There was only darkness. Satisfying, endless darkness.

Consciousness hit him like a train.

He twitched but didn't open his eyes. Voices. He recognized them, distantly. One or two, maybe, weren't so familiar. But the reiatsu was recognizable.

He was in the Xcution hideout.

Softly, he groaned. Hard to believe _that_ happened.

He let down his guard.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The lights were dim, and at first, his vision was a bit hazy. Blinking a few times cleared it up. His head was throbbing, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, not after all the pain he had ever dealt with. A sheet or blanket was over him, covering his legs.

"Hey, I think he's awake," said a feminine voice. If Ichigo remembered, it was that woman...What was her name...Jackie?

He turned his head to the left while slowly sitting upright. Jackie was there near what seemed to be the opposite of the room, across and to the left of the door Ichigo entered before. She was leaning against the table, facing him, and the young woman Riruka was peering over at him from the other side of the table.

"Good. You had me worried, Kurosaki."

Quiet, Ichigo pulled the sheet off his legs and placed his feet on the floor. To his right was Kūgo, standing from a loveseat and approaching him.

"Do you remember what happened, last?" Kūgo asked.

Ichigo forcibly wracked his mind. He could make out sitting at a bar with Kūgo, talking about the Soul Society civil war. Instead of answering, he nodded.

Kūgo stood near with his hands in his pockets. "Well, after that, you began to drink. A lot. You took everyone else by surprise...You're an interesting sort of drunk. Not weepy, just...quiet and sad." He raised a brow. For once, he wasn't smiling. "Then, you just collapsed out of nowhere, and your eyes were pitch black. It scared me, to be honest."

"You've been out for a while," said Jackie. She had moved to where there was what looked like a small bar of some sort. "You want something to eat? Water?"

Remaining quiet, Ichigo glanced at the floor. He was still taking all of this in. His hangover, he could deal with. He just couldn't believe he let his guard down around Kūgo, of all people. He barely knew the man and was wary of him...

During his quiet, he sensed a presence nearing. Shortly after, a man walked entered from a door on the left side of the bar. He was relatively tall and well-dressed, sporting long black hair and a thin moustache. Upon seeing Ichigo, his eyes lit up and his jaw dropped.

"K-Kurosaki Ichigo! You're awake!" he said, eagerly coming closer. At Ichigo's dark glare of warning, he didn't come much closer than the distance between Ichigo and Kūgo. He also seemed undaunted by the glare, otherwise. "It's an honor to finally see you—awake!"

Ichigo blinked at him.

"Ah, how rude of me." The man bowed, a hand across his chest. "My name is Kurōdo. I am a Mod-Soul and an informant for Xcution in the Soul Society."

His expression slightly easing, Ichigo looked him over. He seemed like an ordinary man, much like Kon did in his body. Idly, Ichigo wondered who made the gigai Kurōdo was using...

Straightening, Kurōdo quite seriously said, "I've heard much about you. You've become extremely infamous in the past two years. And...ahh..." He trailed off with despondent look on his face, then shook his head. "It really is an honor to meet you."

Ichigo gave a nod but remained quiet. He was still taking all of this in.

"You're really quiet," Riruka murmured.

Surprisingly, it was Kurōdo who glared at her. She raised her hands, backing off.

It took Ichigo a moment to figure it out. If Kurōdo was stationed in the Soul Society during the time of the infiltration eight months ago, he would know about...

Ichigo's eyes snapped shut and his head twitched. He breathed deeply though his nose before standing up.

"If you're leaving, allow us one thing, Kurosaki," said Kūgo, moving towards the door. He then paused and turned around. "Allow us to keep you abreast of what's going on in the Soul Society."

As he moved towards the door, a suspicious expression formed on Ichigo's face. "Why."

The signature pleasant smile formed on Kūgo's lips. "Didn't I tell you? We're kindred spirits. All of us."

"It's the least we can do," said Jackie, leaning on the bar counter. "We're all against the Soul Society. Hell, they can't even seem to keep themselves together, anymore."

"Yes, well..." Kurōdo coughed into a fist.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, glancing back at him.

He definitely knew.

And it didn't seem as if he told the others...

Against his better judgement, Ichigo nodded at Kūgo. "Fine."

The atmosphere shifted. Everyone seemed to relax. Ichigo was about to continue walking when he stopped. He sensed another presence nearing. A familiar one.

"Kurosaki?" Kūgo asked, confused.

Ignoring him, Ichigo turned around in time to see a man enter the room from the same door Kurōdo came from.

A very tall man with wavy black, shoulder-length hair turned into his direction. He didn't show any emotion upon seeing Ichigo, but merely smiled. "Ah. Kurosaki Ichigo. Just leaving?"

The lowest of growls emitted from Ichigo. Only Kūgo, who was near, heard it, and it surprised him.

This was the same man who tried to "test" Ichigo the last time he was there. The same calm, composed smile adorned his face. He seemed to be completely at ease, one hand in the pocket of his dark pants. "I apologize for last time. I was merely eager to test your abilities. You are truly as reiatsu-sensitive as they say."

Ichigo didn't know who "they" were, neither did he care. He turned back to the door, opened it, and exited the room.

Really. Why did he even bother with these people...

* * *

He returned to Las Noches. He was greeted by the two young Arrancar, Sarbavore and Adariana, as he entered. He only nodded at them, but they smiled genuinely at him. Some while back, Ichigo learned the two were mates. He hadn't noticed it when they first met, but there were marks on both Arrancar's necks.

As he walked through to the main hall, Ichigo's head was lowered in thought.

Only those with Hollow blood could mark a mate, it seemed.

Ichigo briefly closed his eyes.

" _The jugular?_ " he asked Nel last year.

" _It is believed so. The jugular directs blood from the head to the heart..._ " She had shrugged, but a serious look was on her face. " _It would make sense that the mark would affect this area._ "

Arrancar mates bit each other. It was a sign of a different sort of mating dynamic between a pair that separated them from animals.

Why the fuck was he thinking about mating...

It was only bringing up memories he really didn't want to think about, right now...

But it was too late. He was softly panting, his chest clenching, his jaw locked. The memories kept playing in his mind, unwanted and unpleasantly. He shut his eyes as he moved swiftly through the fortress, trying to block out the darkness creeping along his vision.

There was no one inside of the living room, so he entered his room and shut the door. Shakily, he thumped his fists against the nearest wall, then moved to the bathroom.

He turned on the water for a shower. Stripping himself of his clothes, he ignored his erection.

 _Ugh..._

Stepping under the barrage of water, he closed his eyes. Unwantedly, the memories came back to him. The feel of the pale skin, the warmth between them. This time, he felt too drained to even go into a mental breakdown. He did, however, see the man's hands all over him, touching him, caressing him.

He swallowed. His hand slowly went for his erection. Just as slowly, he began to stimulate himself to the memories...

Water beat down upon them. Gin was pressed against the wall, his silver-white hair matted against his face. Ichigo held his legs to his hips, panting softly as he rammed into his mate, pleasuring them both immensely. One of Gin's arms draped over his shoulder, clawing his back, the other grasping onto his hair.

The softest, breathiest moans emitted from Gin, and his eyes were slanted open. Ichigo stared into them, never looking away. They were beautiful, those eyes. So unique. Crystal blue and blood red. With a soft growl, he moved to his mate's neck, continuing to slam into him while biting over the mark. The gasping, pleasurable moan Gin emitted only spurred him to a greater arousal, and he shivered in delight. Biting harder, he felt himself nearing completion.

" _Ichi...go_ ," Gin murmured, then let out a shaky groan as Ichigo increased his pace. He began to gasp, more and more, higher and higher, holding tightly onto his lover and his eyelids fluttering.

Then Ichigo pulled his head away to look into his eyes as he came hard, a crescendo of almost painful pleasure sweeping through him. Gin couldn't keep eye contact and pressed back against the wall, eyes rolling up and digging his claws into Ichigo's skin. Ichigo growled at the stimulation before going in to attack Gin's neck again, this time imbuing the bite with his reiatsu.

Slowly, they came down from their high. Moving his head to look into his mate's amused, mismatched eyes, he smiled before giving him a deep kiss. " _You're mine_ ," he whispered against the pale, smiling lips.

"You're mine..."

Ichigo blinked. He was back in the shower, alone. His eyes quickly pooled, and he looked down at his hand. His semen washed away, down the drain. He swallowed, lowering to his knees, his tears mixing with the water.

A sob escaped him, blackness creeping into his vision again. He leaned against the side of the tub, lips trembling and his mind reeling. He was so tired... _so tired_...

He wanted to scream.

He lifted his left wrist to his mouth and bit on it. It wasn't a simple nip, but a deep mouthful of a bite, and blood gushed into his mouth. Shutting his eyes again, he drank, his body shaking from how much it hurt and from the overwhelming need to _release_.

The taste was tangy, metallic, salty, and warm. It reminded him of _that_ day, which only made his chest clench, and he bit harder. His body curled inwards in the tub and he began to sob. Soundlessly, he screamed. But inside, the screaming was almost audible. It was his soul, broken and weary.

For a good minute, he drank his blood. He bit deep, enough that his hand was limp, until he was too weak to even bite anymore. Pulling away, the barrage of water wiped away the blood on his arm as his regeneration took care of the ravaged flesh.

He sat there, his head resting against the wall, feeling floaty. Pleasant. It was like being drunk, only he was more conscious of what he was doing. He closed his eyes, letting the water wipe away his tears.

 _Dammit, Gin..._


	3. Interlude I – I'm Broken, Baby

Once more, Ichigo was atop a building. This time, it was a familiar, slightly crooked, destroyed complex. He took a moment to look around before crouching on the edge of its roof.

In truth, it was dangerous to be in Akazuki-chō, again. Be it the Gotei 13 found them here eight months ago, the Onmitsukidō patrolled it heavily. He could see their flitting black shapes almost everywhere within the complex, even after all the time that passed. But that didn't matter. They couldn't sense him. He also doubted they found the underground living space—at least, so far.

Even after eight months...

He took a deep breath. Now was _not_ the time to have an episode.

He took a look at the next floor beneath him before lightly jumping down. Casually, he walked through and made his way downwards. Even when he saw Onmitsukidō troopers, they didn't see _him_. He made sure of it. Hands in his pockets, he found it rather entertaining to be so close to them, yet so far out of reach. They couldn't so much as touch him, anymore. His superior speed, his inability to be sensed...

After a while, he came to a floor that had a hole in the wall. Behind it, the wall seemed merely solid and went nowhere, but in actuality, there was a handle made of the broken wall that opened. He walked inside, closing the thick door behind him, and walked down the hall at his right.

It was even more entertaining to see the troopers from behind the wall while he walked through. He really never _did_ ask Shinji or the others how they made the complex such a...well, complex ruins.

He observed the troopers. It was difficult to tell what, exactly, they were looking for. For the most part they seemed to be searching for things. Even after eight months? What the hell had they been doing all this time...?

A member said something to another about a war within the Soul Society, so softly that it was barely audible. But with his sensitive hearing, Ichigo heard it.

There wasn't any more of a response than a soft hum of agreement.

Well, that explained it. Briefly, Ichigo wondered if the war had anything to do with the strange vision shown to him—all of them—by Gin before he was...

Blackness briefly flashed into his vision, and he leaned against the wall with one arm for a moment, exhaling deeply. He then sighed and continued walking, albeit at a slower pace. Kisuke didn't want to talk about that. It actually made the former captain uncomfortable, so Ichigo grudgingly let it go. Gin apparently never intended for him to know about it, anyway...

His chest clenched, and he once more rested against the wall, blinking away the darkness and more tears.

He was pathetic...

 _Dammit, Gin._

There was suddenly a shout, and then an explosion from outside the complex. Blinking, Ichigo raised his head and looked past the wall to see the troop in the area run swiftly to the opening of the destroyed floor. He could just make out a black figure that was familiar. It was the Togabito again.

But he was thankful for the distraction.

He appeared on the upper floor in a moment, exiting from another secret door in the wall. Keeping low, he looked out a busted window. It was the same four Togabito from before. The round one was using a pink energy blade to slice the troopers into pieces. The largest one was pummeling troopers into mush, as well as blasting some away with green energy. The tallest one was using its tentacled arms to impale, and the other one was using fire to burn the troopers to cinders.

He sat at the window, watching with some interest. In truth, he was just glad they had taken the fight out of the building. The last thing they needed was to bring attention to the complex, or destroy it at all, for that matter. Maybe that was why the troop went out to meet the Togabito.

Though, he had to wonder. How the heck did the Togabito know where he was? Undoubtedly, they were only there for him. And if they were, how did they find him? Was there some way to track people in Hell? That sounded...not entirely impossible. Wouldn't that be another form of...torture? Psychological torture? To be able to see people...but not touch them?

Eyes slightly widening, he wondered. Could...Gin find him, too...?

Shaking his head, he moved from the window as the last of the troop was taken out.

Again, amidst the sounds of shouts, attacks, screaming, and explosions, he walked casually through the complex. What was happening wasn't his problem, not his business. He wanted nothing to do with the Togabito. Nothing, that is, unless he could think of something...

"Kurosaki Ichigooo~"

He glanced over to the sound of the call. It was a different Togabito talking, this time.

"Where aaare yooou~?"

He sensed the last trooper's reiatsu disappear.

"We know you're here," said another. This one had a deeper voice.

Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo again wondered how they knew that. He peeked from around a corner just in time to see the largest one pull back a fist to break a wall down. His eyes widened, and in the next second, he stood before the fist, using a finger to hold it back. The wind from the force behind the punch blew back his hair, but he didn't so much as flinch.

Sounds of awe and what he could only translate as glee passed around. The hulking figure lowered its fist before jumping back a bit.

The same one from before, who Ichigo was sure was their leader, stepped forward. "Your precious one is suffering greatly in Hell, in ways you cannot begin to imagine, Kurosaki Ichigo."

He twitched, his upper lip ticcing.

"We will gladly tell you where to find him...and even bring you to him. All we ask is for you to free us from He—"

"How?" Ichigo looked the leader eye-to-eye, or what he imagined were their eyes. His irises were silver.

"Use your monstrous powers to destroy the Gates of Hell!" Holding out his hands dramatically, the leader laughed. "Only you have the ability to do so!"

Clenching his teeth, Ichigo forced himself to turn away.

During the momentary silence, the leader continued, "He is suffering, far more than anything Kurotsuchi Mayuri ever did to him."

Going stiff, Ichigo's eyes widened. Blackness rapidly overtook his vision. Words were said, but he didn't hear them.

All he saw was Gin's body in his arms, scarred and defiled. Dying. Bleeding. The soundless moan made when his mark was bitten. Ichigo still didn't know if that was a moan of hurting, or a moan of pleasure achieved after _so much_ hurting.

His choker began to chirp. He blinked rapidly, trying to bring himself back to the present. "H-how...do you _know_...?"

"We have our ways. However..." There was a smile in the person's voice. "Aizen is in Hell, as well."

That was the limit of Ichigo's tolerance to the info dump. He breathed heavily, opening his eyes, but he was back at Sōkyoku Hill, watching Gin pulled out his arms and into Hell. He shouted out, feeling the tears rolling down his face.

 _Gin...! GIN!_

There was screaming, the clashing of steel, and shouts. He reached out for Gin, but was held back.

 _Not again! NOT AGAIN!_

There was pain around his neck. Thrashing about, he managed to slip from the grasp that held him back. But the moment he took a step forward, his footing gave out as the drug worked its magic. Someone held him, preventing him from falling.

"Hold him, be careful!"

He recognized the voice...

He slumped down, the blackness somewhat receding from his vision. He was no longer on Sōkyoku Hill. "Ki...suke...san..." he muttered.

"Ichigo-san? Can you hear me?"

He groaned, lowering to his knees with the help of arms and hands. He didn't get the chance to respond, or even to try to. The last thing he saw were the concerned faces of people he recognized before all went dark and silent.

* * *

Unlike before, he awoke with a start. He popped upright in the bed, and felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Shakily, he breathed, looking around the darkness of his room in Las Noches. Nothing was there. Lowering his head, he slumped forward, clenching his hands together.

 _Not again..._

The desire to scream welled up inside of him. However, he could sense his friends outside, so he once more bit into his left wrist, his tears dripping from his chin. He closed his eyes, the sobs breaking through, but didn't let a single drop of blood drip down. He sucked his wrist hard and angrily, his body trembling with rage and sadness and overwhelmed by mindless emotion.

He thought he had gotten over this. These episodes. He was doing so well, resorting to biting himself instead...until the Togabito came along. They knew just how to trigger him. At this point, he was sure they were doing it on purpose. They were trying to get him angry, for some reason...

When he moved his mouth from his wrist, he felt dizzy again. Light-headed. Floaty. He fell onto his side, staring with slanted eyes at nothing. Slowly, he licked his lips, then lethargically brought his healed wrist to his mouth to lick up remnants of blood. While he felt marginally better, his body was still tense.

Someone knocked gently on his door. He didn't bother answering. The person would come inside, eventually.

After a moment, the door opened.

"Ichigo...?"

It was Nelliel.

He licked his lips of the rest of the blood.

She entered. Her footsteps were soft, barely audible. The bed then dipped, and he felt her hands comb through his hair. It felt nice. His eyes fluttered, then closed as he began to relax.

"Are you hungry?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head.

"Okay...I'm...here if you want to talk, okay?"

He nodded.

He felt her press a kiss to his head. This relaxed him a bit more. As she began to move away, he reached out and caught her hand. She paused, and then sat back down. He sighed softly when she went back to combing his hair, and he found himself drifting off to sleep.

When he awoke again, he was alone and could smell food. He opened his eyes to see a bowl of food in front of him, covered by a small top. Sitting upright with some difficulty, his head throbbing, he brought the bowl closer and peered at what it was. It was more miso soup, filled with vegetables and tofu. His stomach growled.

Taking up the chopsticks that had been beside the plate, he began to eat. Judging by the moonlight coming in from the window, it was lunchtime, again. He had no idea what day it was, however.

Nor did he care.

After eating, he neared the dining room with his empty bowl and the top in hand. Head lowered, he took his time to walk instead of using sonído. It wasn't as if he wanted to think. Fortunately, he didn't. It was merely stagnant mantras and monotonous actions.

 _Move forward._

His gaze slightly rose higher.

 _One foot in front of the other._

As he walked down the hall, he heard his friends in the dining room. He paid no mind, until he heard Gin's name. He halted, listening closer with his adept hearing.

"...why else would the Togabito be after Ichigo?" Kon was saying. "It has to be Gin."

"But _how_ would they know?" asked Uryū. "It's not like...you don't think..."

"That Gin-san asked for them to get Ichigo-san?" Kisuke asked. There was a brief silence.

"Why wouldn't he just come himself, then?" asked Lisa. "Obviously, Togabito can come out of Hell, somehow."

Another brief silence.

Kisuke sighed. "In any case, someone should stay close to Ichigo-san..."

Ichigo continued to stare forward at nothing, his expression indifferent. As conversation continued, he placed the bowl on the floor and walked back the way he came.

* * *

The Hollow screamed as it careened into yet another park. He was on it in a second, grabbing its thick arms and ripping them off as it hit the ground face-first. Blood splattered onto his white clothes, but he didn't care. Couldn't. All he saw was his next meal, a source of entertainment.

When he did this, he didn't think about his depression. He didn't think about his mourning. It was cathartic, hunting Hollows. It was pleasing, hunting Hollows. That itch was settling, going away to whatever wretched depths it originated from within him.

He bit into the Hollow's neck, relishing its screams of pain. Ripping out a chunk of the meat, he chewed, then swallowed. It only had legs, now, and it thrashed as it tried futilely to get away. Moving off of it, he observed this for a moment, a smirk on his face at its pathetic condition. Taking it by a foot, he dragged it away, holding one of its arms in his free hand. He bit into it, relishing the taste of pure meat.

This was his third Hollow for the night. He was already full, but didn't care. He needed something to do, something to keep his mind off the chaos within it. Also, the meat was good.

He dragged the Hollow to a tree and threw it up on a tree limb. As it bled out, he jumped into the tree and sat nearby. He finished the arm, licking his lips of the blood. His stomach cramped, but he ignored it. He was getting tired. With a contented sigh, he leaned against the trunk and closed his eyes.

Too bad there was nothing more to do...

His mind began to wander.

For once, it didn't go into the downwards spiral of depression, but to something he never did figure out. Something that was a mystery. Humming, he opened his eyes and leapt into the air, leaving the Hollow in the tree. Maybe another Hollow would come by and finish it. He really didn't care.

Using hirenkyaku, which was his go-to mode of traveling when in the living world, he neared the northern outskirts of the city. It was a stroke of luck that he was already rather close to the location of interest. Upon spotting the flat structure, he lowered to the ground and stood closer to it than he ever did before.

It was the old warehouse, the one he went to with Eiri, and subsequently other former co-workers. He stared at it, putting one hand in a pocket. It no longer gave him the creeps, not anymore. He was now curious, and morbidly so. Something was telling him he wasn't going to like what was inside or nearby this place, but how was the question. How would he not like it, and why?

Now that he encountered it twice, he knew what he had sensed before that had his hackles raised. The warehouse gave off traces of reiatsu similar to that of Hell and the Togabito.

He sensed several persons within the warehouse. They were marginally strong presences...or so it seemed.

 _Ugh_...

Before he could decide on what to do, he sensed someone approaching the area. He glanced into their direction before disappearing from sight. Reappearing in the air, he stood on reishi particles and watched. Two people were approaching the warehouse, one wrapped up from head to toe in black, the other a brunet man looking far more normal and very wary.

"A-are you sure this place is okay?" the latter asked.

"It's just fine," replied the one in black.

As they approached, someone came from out of the warehouse. It was a Togabito, judging from the way they dressed. Also judging by the person's reaction upon seeing the door open, they couldn't see the Sinner.

The black figure was carrying what looked like coat and a mask. "Put these on," they said to the wary man.

"O-okay..." The coat and mask were taken and put on, as well as some gloves. The coat also covered the brunet head to toe in black, complete with a hood that was pulled up.

Immediately after this, the Togabito approached the brunet and, to Ichigo's surprise, _entered the brunet's body_. The man made a brief spasm, and his body contorted a bit before going still.

The first one in black asked, "How is it?"

"Eh." The brunet had a different voice, now. They flexed their hands. "A little stiff, but I'll get used to it."

"You will."

Ichigo watched with narrowed eyes. So, the Togabito possessed the brunet. This was his first time witnessing a possession. It made his skin crawl at the fact that he was so close to such beings several times when he was working. Tilting his head to the side, he decided to destroy the two.

No doubt that would kill the bodies they possessed, but oh, well. At least they would be free of what could only be agony. Maybe the original souls were already gone after they became possessed.

 _Ugh_...

Red energy began to charge in front of him, forming tri-directionally in a swirl until it fired at the warehouse. The dark sky briefly blazed red as the cero blew the warehouse up, blowing back the two Togabito that were outside.

They stared at the smoldering ruins, calling out names, probably of comrades. They lifted themselves from the ground and looked up at him, revealing they were wearing the familiar masks of worn by the four Togabito.

Hands in his pockets, Ichigo stared right back. His head tilted to the side, as if daring them to do something about what he did. He could use some excitement.

"You!" the first one cried, making a mad dash for him with blue energy forming blades in their hands. They swung at him, only to gasp in shock when he stopped the blade with a finger.

Staring blankly at them, taking advantage of their shock, he placed a finger at the Togabito's forehead and plucked them away. They went careening to the ruins faster than a bullet, much to what he could sense was the horror to the second Togabito.

"P-please!" they cried as he lowered to the ground. "I just...I-I just...!"

Tilting his head to the other side, Ichigo stared at them with a single, bored blink. He then glanced back upon sensing more Togabito approaching. Furrowing his brows, he recognized the reiatsu as the same four from last time. He was coming to hate those four...

The Togabito near him shouted as they raised a long, bladed weapon that looked like an axe towards him. Without even looking at them, he again blocked the weapon with a finger, then turned to face them and grabbed their face before throwing them. They went flying into the ruins as well, disappearing almost instantaneously.

He looked up in time to see the four Togabito appear.

"This time, we won't take no for an answer!" said the round one.

He remained quiet, then began to walk away with his hands in his pockets again.

 _Ugh_...

"Oi! Don't ignore us!"

Without warning, he backflipped over the Togabito as they tried to attack him with a blade of pink energy. Once he was behind them, he gave a simple kick to their back that sent them flying. Ducking, he missed a large fist from the largest Togabito that had green energy on it. He kicked them, too, and they also went flying, but into the first one that had been coming back.

He raised a hand, allowing a long tentacled limb to wrap around his wrist. As the tallest Togabito began to make a sound of confusion, he easily slammed them down to the ground with a mere tug. The tentacle let go of him, and he turned to look up at the leader, who hadn't moved.

Before anything could be said, all three of the Togabito that he had beaten raised up and came at him all at once. Ichigo sighed.

Swiftly, he grasped his ōdachi and knocked the round one as they approached him towards the leader, then grabbed the fist of the large one and did the same, followed by moving to the tentacled one to do it, again, all while murmuring his Shikai release.

Before they could even comprehend what happened, he unleashed his Shikai, slashing at all four with a horizontal Getsuga Tenshō. All four took the hit at once, and they flew away. Ichigo's eyes were fast enough to see that each of their masks broke.

He softly huffed, knowing that was pretty much the end of them.

But, then again, another Togabito was approaching. This one wasn't familiar.

 _Ugh..._

Just as he began to turn around, however, he froze. A dark aura permeated the area, and the wind picked up, swirling up to a point in the sky. Eyes wide, his head snapped up just in time to see the sky flash green and black.

The Gates of Hell appeared.

* * *

 **A/N:** I

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Lo, guuuys~ So! Welcome to the first Interlude chapter! For those who don't know, these chapters are for author notes and some insight into the story! But you should know that by now...?

SO. Let me explain something real clear-like. There is a reason why this is part of the Echo (2010) version of the series (or known as the EP series on ). That reason is because...this version is very, very raw. Just like the first version of _Cache_ , this damn fanfic is all _over_ the gosh-darned place. When I make stories as complicated as these for the first time, it's difficult for me to get my thoughts together...

What I'm trying to say is, there are going to be inconsistencies. Both in story and in character personalities. It just is what it is, I'm afraid. Even when I go over it, it just doesn't flow the way I want it to. It took six years of working on _Cache_ for me to finally figure it all out, which is why _another_ version of _Cache_ is in the works. This will be the penultimate version, the final and perfected version. I will painstakingly nitpick through _EVERY INCH_ of _Echo_ , _Echough_ and _Cache_ for these final, third versions. Which means they probably won't come out until...like...2028.

Go on. Laugh.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

*Sighs* In any case, as the first version of _Endure_ , it's just _going_ to be messed up, and this time around, chapters are going to be stupidly short. All I can say is to try to enjoy it to the best of your ability. I really am trying, guys. It's just very hard for me to get a story together when writing it for the first time. Like, the NaNoWriMo story I worked on last year got 10 rewrites, and I'm _still_ working on it.

So, please understand. Three rewrites are like a godsend. There could be so, _so_ many more.

Thanks, and I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

Next Interlude will have more about the story other than me crying over my inability to piece a damn story together.


	4. Don't hold my breath

He wanted to scream.

Every inch of Ichigo's body was trembling, and the darkness ate at the corners of his vision. "No..." he murmured, reaching out. "No...!"

Abruptly, someone smacked him hard. His whole upper body jolted to the right, his neck strained. Shaking his head, blinking rapidly, a growl built up in his throat. But before he could do anything else, and just as he was about to look back up, cloth clamped over his eyes.

"Don't look at it, Ichigo!" said a male voice behind him.

The rattling of chains made him go stiff.

Noticing this, the person clamped hands over his ears. It didn't block out all the sound, but thankfully they were far enough away from the wind was mostly all he heard.

This...

This was different.

He stayed there, standing rigid on the ground, until the wind went away. The presences of the four Togabito disappeared, as well. Did Hell take them back...? But why?

The hands moved from his ears and the blindfold was taken off. He took a moment to blink in a semi-daze. He was so close to losing it. For it to just...go away like that, so violently...

Immediately, he spun around and jumped back. This new Togabito was a man wearing black and light grey clothes, entirely different from the other four. He wore black gloves, boots and cloth that covered most of his hair and the right side of his face, including his eye. His other visible one was purple in color, and...he was quite a tall man, at least a head and maybe a few inches taller than Ichigo.

Holding up his hands, the man said, "I'm not an enemy. Yeah, I know, I know. I'm a Togabito." He looked at his wrist, which had a chain shackled to it. "My name's Kokutō. I'm here on the behest of a friend of yours in Hell."

Tawny eyes widened to the size of saucers. "G...Gin?"

"Ichimaru Gin. Yep." Kokutō made a friendly smile. " He told me to get you, so he can get out of Hell...with the agreement that you'll also free me."

Blinking, Ichigo tried to comprehend this. Were the others right...? Much as he wanted to believe that, a part of him wouldn't let the doubt go. "Then...why didn't he just come, himself?"

Kokutō's expression turned somber. "Some punishments in Hell are too constant for anyone to leave. Call me one of the lucky ones."

Ichigo's expression was one of uncertainty and desperation. His body was visibly tense, and he was only getting worse.

Noticing, Kokutō held up his hands again. "He said to tell you something...um..." He scratched the back of his head, trying to think. He then snapped his fingers. "Right. He said he wanted to apologize for never letting you know the Hōgyoku was inside of hi—"

Ichigo was in front of him in a second, grabbing his tunic. "Take me there," he said, his voice low, almost choked. "Please!"

"I will," Kokutō held up his hands again, as if he was trying his damned hardest not to get on the hybrid's bad side, "but I recommend you leave your body behind."

That would mean a trip back to Hueco Mundo. Letting Kokutō go, Ichigo shakily exhaled and lowered his head.

He couldn't believe it.

Gin wanted to get out of Hell.

Fuck, there was a way _out_ of Hell. Maybe he had to destroy the Gates, after all, like that Togabito leader was saying? If that's what it took, he would do it. No matter what.

Ever since the incident, he had been a burden to his companions. To everyone. His crazy spells, his sensitivity, his pathetic nature...He _was_ crazy. He _was_ a mess. He knew he was difficult to be around, now. He didn't mean to be. But...

Getting Gin back would make everything right again.

He glanced back at Kokutō. "I'll do it. I'll free you, too."

A wide, grateful smile formed on the Togabito's face. "Thanks." He motioned to where they were. "You think we should meet up, here? Or maybe not since...I'm surprised the police aren't here, yet..."

Ichigo looked back at the warehouse's remains. He forgot he had blown up the Togabito hideout. The wind from when the Gates appeared put the fire out. He mentally shrugged. Wasn't his problem, anymore. Never was, really. "We can meet up here. When?"

"How about... tomorrow night at eight?"

He nodded. That gave him time to figure out a way past his keepers...and also time to _attempt_ to mentally prepare himself.

God knew he was going to need it.

"Alright, then. See you, Ichigo!" Kokutō gave a wave before jumping into the air and disappearing from immediate sight.

Ichigo watched after him, then exhaled again, placing a hand over his chest.

 _Gin..._

* * *

He exited a garganta to appear at the entrance to Las Noches. He wasn't verbally greeted by Adariana and Sarbavore, but they waved at him from their places atop the entrance's pillars. As always, he nodded at them.

He wanted to rush, but had plenty of time. Some time to waste, even. What could he do in that time...

Upon entering the main hall, he spotted Nelliel conversing with another Arrancar. He was just about to consider running off, but she took notice of him with a gasp.

"Ichigo!" She excused herself from her conversation and ran over to him. "Are you alright? You had...just left your bowl behind, before..." Pursing her lips, she pulled him close in a hug.

While expressionless, he returned it earnestly. Of all his friends, he pretty much only let Nelliel make direct contact with him. Maybe it was because she was so maternal, something he lacked growing up. Whatever it was, he appreciated it. He really did.

A ping in his chest made him feel bad about what he was going to do, tomorrow.

Just a little bit.

He then pulled away and nodded with a miniscule smile before using sonído to return to his room.

He moved fast so no one else could bother him. It would be difficult for that as he neared his suite, however, as it had become the place where everyone hung out. He didn't mind it, in truth, but it meant he couldn't sneak in very easily.

So, he didn't bother, walking casually through the open room. Uryū was there, along with Hiyori. Interesting combination.

She noticed him immediately, despite her lazing on a couch. "Oi, Ichigo."

He paused to look at her.

"Where have you been?"

He gave her a deadpanned expression.

"Don't look at me like that!" She huffed, sitting up to get a better view of him. "Listen, these Togabito? It's _obvious_ they're after you. So, we kinda gotta know what's up."

He looked forward but nodded. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Uryū nodding in agreement.

Walking into his room, Ichigo closed the door behind him. He then shut his eyes, exhaling shakily.

He was really going to do this.

He _had_ to do this.

* * *

Eight o'clock PM came faster than Ichigo imagined, the next day. He was crouched low on a broken lamppost, his silver eyes almost glowing in the darkness. His eyes were locked onto the warehouse remains, his body unmoved. It wasn't yet eight, but damn him if he was going to be late to arrive.

He didn't have much time.

Before he snuck away from Las Noches, he was specifically instructed, and had agreed, before Kisuke, Shinji, and his friends, that he would go with someone if he went to the living world. But he wasn't about to drag them into this.

However.

They _would_ notice he was gone sooner than later and they _would_ find him. His spiritual form had a tracker on it, somewhere. He just couldn't find it. His physical form, of course, had his choker. Again, he didn't mind everyone looking out for his best interests. He couldn't even muster it within himself to find what they did annoying. It just...was.

That didn't mean he was of the mind to follow through on anything.

As if responding to his thoughts, something on him beeped. He softly swore. That was fast. He must have only been gone for twenty minutes, if that. Sighing, he reached out with his senses. Maybe two minutes passed before he sensed Kisuke, Kon, Chad and Hiyori approaching. Interesting selection.

Expressionlessly, he waited. It was about five minutes to eight.

"Ichigo!"

He didn't move, didn't so much as twitch. They slowed upon seeing him.

"You okay?" Kon asked, nearing him on reishi particles.

Fortunately, it was at that moment that Kokutō appeared out of an almond-shaped blue portal with the redness of Hell within it. Vanishing, Ichigo moved towards Kokutō, but Kisuke appeared in front of him. He stopped.

"Ichigo-san...Please," the scientist pled with a serious expression. "Don't go."

Ichigo didn't respond, but his eyes did narrow a bit. He glanced over at Kokutō, who stood waiting, watching them with his arms crossed. He looked forward. "Move, Kisuke-san, or be moved."

"No." Kisuke held his ground. "You do not know Hell, Ichigo-san. None of us do. Who knows what it might do to you."

"I don't care."

He frowned. "You might not even be able to come back."

About to respond, Ichigo considered this. Somehow, he doubted that. "Unlikely."

"Don't risk it."

"Ichigo!" Kon called from behind him. He came beside him, a hand on his shoulder. "Don't do this! Do you really think Gin would want you to go after him, after all that happened?"

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo shut his eyes.

No. Gin probably wouldn't want that.

However.

"It's not about what Gin wants," he managed between his teeth. "What matters...is what _I_ want!"

He grabbed Kon by his wrist and threw him to Kisuke, who caught him in surprise. In that moment, Ichigo appeared beside Kokutō, who blinked at his speed. He gave Kokutō a look before stepping towards the portal.

"Don't go, you idiot!" Of course, that was Hiyori.

"Ichigo!" Chad called. He sounded pained.

Halting, Ichigo looked back at them. All four wore wide-eyed, desperate expressions on their faces.

He lowered his head, then looked away. "Sorry."

With that, he and Kokutō entered the portal.

The last thing he heard was a gasp before Kisuke called out in alarm.


	5. Voyage à travers l'Enfer

The first thing Ichigo noticed upon stepping out of the portal was how the air was stifling. Powerful as he was, even he could sense it. The second thing he noticed was a shift within himself. Zangetsu became a more noticeable presence within him, as if at the forefront of his inner being. But, the spirit avatar was quiet, almost anxious.

Kokutō moved from behind him, leading in front as they stood upon a beige platform in the air. "This is the entrance to Hell," he explained, waving a hand in front of him.

It was not what Ichigo expected. He scrutinized the environment.

A red, hellish sky loomed overhead, and the air was littered with the same beige platforms of several different shapes, though most were quadrilateral. A series of blue pathways lied within a mix of larger platforms tall enough to be towers which made up the "ground" below them.

"You know, I'm actually kind of surprised Gin is here, at all."

Ichigo glanced at his companion, who was slightly frowning.

"He's a Shinigami, right? He's the second Shinigami I've seen in Hell, in all my time here. They aren't supposed to be able to come here, from my understanding."

Looking forward, Ichigo frowned. When he saw Gin again, he would have to ask why...

A heaviness settled in his heart, and there was a pain within him, causing him to wince. He placed a hand over his chest.

If Kokutō noticed, he didn't say anything about it. He pointed towards the distance. "He's on the second lowest level of Hell." With that, he jumped down.

Ichigo followed close behind. His heart beat hard in his chest. He couldn't believe he was so close yet so far away from where Gin was.

After they landed on one of the blue pathways, they ran straight ahead. Ichigo was tempted to fly forward but knew Kokutō wouldn't be able to keep up with him.

As they ran, Ichigo came to notice other people—or rather, Togabito—slumped against crevasses in the block-like towers. Some were aimlessly wandering around. Some stood blankly, drooling, and some held their heads, screaming mindlessly. Only a few looked at them and watched them run by.

"Why are they like that?" Ichigo asked as they ran.

"Their spirits have been crushed. Togabito have powers, and that is so we can fight against the Hell Guardians." As if reminded of said guardians, Kokutō gazed around, prompting Ichigo to do the same. "But no matter how much we train, we're no match for them. After fighting for so long, some give up, becoming mindless Togabito."

Disturbed by this, Ichigo tensed.

"Despite this, many of us fight against them, resisting them. Hatred is the source of our powers. It reminds us here, in Hell, that we are what we are." Kokutō paused from his explanation. He hummed. "Looks like something's noticed you're here."

Ichigo didn't understand, at first...until a massive being, far larger than what he imagined he'd see in Hell, rose from beside them in the abyss below. It was skeletal in appearance with a long head, save for its fleshy innards and hulking, flesh-covered arms. Its middle was a long spinal cord, and its back legs were also flesh-covered. But what really grabbed Ichigo's attention were its googly yellow eyes within black sockets.

Ichigo had never seen anything like it in his life.

"That's a Guardian of Hell, a Kushanāda!" Kokutō explained. They watched as it eyeballed the Togabito, grabbing them and eating them. "Don't let them kill you! If you die here, you'll be bound in chains, unable to leave!"

"But if _you_ die, what happens?" Ichigo watched as the being turned to look at them.

"If Togabito die, we come back in a repeating cycle of death."

Clenching his teeth at the thought, Ichigo watched a shadow of a massive hand appeared below them. They waited until the hand was almost on them before disappearing, jumping on the high and low towers to get away.

Returning onto the blue path, they were met by yet another Kushanāda passing through the ground and turning to them. They jumped over it, too fast for it to catch, and returned on the path. Ichigo's eyes went wide upon seeing several more materializing out of the towers, passing through them like ghosts. At least four were in their way, now.

His upper lip curling, Ichigo growled before taking Zangetsu off his back. "I'm gonna break through."

"What do you mea—?"

Ichigo jumped into the air, raising his blade with both hands. "Hail the chains which bind the heavens..." His ōdachi split into two, one larger and one smaller. Both then let off black and red energy as he readied them. But right before he said his zanpakutō's name, he felt a familiar dark energy welling up within him. He briefly winced, but called out, " _Zangetsu!_ "

He fired a massive Getsuga Jūjishō forward, much larger than anything he ever saw in his Shikai. It was Bankai-level without him holding back, and it decimated the pathway, the towers, and all the Kushanāda in their way. A massive explosion rocked the area, blowing up a cloud of dust and red and black.

As he landed into a crouch, he lowered his small blade and grasped his chest, right where his Hollow hole was located. He felt that his eyes were black and white, and his breaths were echoic as he panted. He looked back at the other Kushanāda and decided to restrain himself, this time, firing a much weaker Getsuga Tenshō with his larger blade.

Despite this, his attack _still_ annihilated the area, sending yet another explosion of his signature colors into the air. The dust didn't settle until some minutes had passed, and Ichigo remained crouched, looking around for Kokutō.

"What was that?!" the Togabito shouted from his place in a crevass nearer to where Ichigo was. It seemed he wasn't caught in the crossfire.

Ichigo rubbed at his chest, grimacing. "Sorry...Don't know...why that happened..."

Upon hearing his warbled voice, Kokutō eyed him. "What sort of power do you have?"

"I'm part Hollow, part Quincy, part Shinigami," Ichigo responded, deciding not to bat around the bush.

Kokutō recoiled. "Wait... _Part Hollow?_ As in, _born that way?_ "

Ichigo didn't look at him but nodded as he took a breather.

"Well." Kokutō scratched the back of his head. "You must be reacting to Hell. The air here brings out hidden powers."

That explained why Zangetsu was quiet, but anxious. Ichigo stood, feeling a little better.

"If you're not careful, the power within you will go out of control..." Kokutō seemed thoughtful for a moment, then turned to the right. "We'll go around."

As he took off, Ichigo rubbed at his chest again before following him. Hopefully this wouldn't be a problem, later...

No more Kushanāda appeared after that, and they went down the path to their left. Once they came to the end, there were two paths to the right and left. Kokutō led Ichigo right. After that, there were another two. They went left. It led to a path going directly to the right, and then there was another straight pathway leading to the end, where there was only a huge fissure.

Ichigo frowned a bit. As if sensing this, Kokutō explained, "Just jump! It leads to the next level!"

They approached the end of the blue path and jumped. There was only darkness immediately below them, with several blocks further ahead and directly across from them. After they fell for a short while, the darkness gave away to a purplish haze.

For a good few seconds, they couldn't see anything but purple. Then, they were falling high in the air—so high it would be dangerous if in the living world—in an area full of water. Two massive towers that reached past the sky were visible at their right and left, and in the water were what appeared to be lily pads with red interiors. There were also other, floating platforms of various, round sizes.

They landed on edges of one "lily pad", which were, in fact gigantic floating...graves? It appeared so, as full skeletons of the Kushanāda were impaled in the center of the structures, which were carved out to form a perfect circle. Ichigo imagined the same went for the other floating "islands".

He glanced around. It was an otherwise very empty location, suspiciously quiet. There weren't any screams or moans of Togabito, no sounds of Kushanāda stalking the area. The sky was purple, like the haze, and the horizon was pure white.

It was hard to believe they were still in Hell.

Upon seeing his expression, Kokutō understood. "Why aren't the levels of Hell hellish?" He shrugged. "I haven't a clue. The lower two levels, however, might make you think otherwise. For some reason, this quiet place exists. It seems like a place for contemplation, don't you think?"

Not sure if that was sarcastic or not, Ichigo merely glanced at him.

Kokutō cracked a smile. "The air is toxic, here. If you stay for around an hour, you'll die."

Eyes widening, Ichigo took a step forward. No wonder the damn place was empty.

Kokutō waved him over and jumped high into the sky before diving into the water. Ichigo was quick to follow after him.

He didn't even have to propel himself forward. A few minutes after diving in, he felt a drag pulling him deeper into the water. While he was sure didn't have to hold his breath, he decided _not_ to hold his breath on the idea.

They emerged into dark area that seemed to be made entirely out of volcanic ground. Here and there was grey mist. All around were pools of what looked like lava within craters, some layered atop one another to create small waterfalls. Some were relatively small, others were massive lakes. The sky was the same color as the water they fell from.

And as they fell, Ichigo felt as if eyes were watching them.

He took in the scape. He spotted shapes of people—or rather, Togabito. Several were staring into their direction. He maneuvered himself, so he landed on the ground instead of the lava, and Kokutō landed beside him.

The Togabito that were near were dressed differently from the mindless ones. As the mindless ones wore what were almost bodysuits and simple tunics, the majority of these wore clothes with more "personality", in a way. Capes, boots, sashes, loincloths, you name it. They wore them, and some wore many at a time, giving them complete outfits like Kokutō's.

A part of Ichigo had to wonder. Who or what gave them the clothes they wore...?

From what he could sense, there were Togabito everywhere, even when he couldn't see them. Their expressions mostly comprised of wary, confused observation towards him and an indiscernible look towards Kokutō. Ignoring them, Ichigo glanced at his companion, who narrowed his eyes while looking around.

"There's a passageway that way," Kokutō said, pointing to the end of the land engulfed by mist. "It leads to the next level."

Ichigo's eyes focused on the direction, and he began to walk forward.

"Well, well."

He froze at the familiar voice, looking to his left to see a Togabito approaching them.

"I thought I spotted orange hair," said a man he hoped to never see again.

"Aizen," he growled, grasping his blade.

The mastermind traitor of the Soul Society wore clothing similar to Kokutō's, the same lined grey tunic, only it was interestingly identical to a Shinigami's shihakushō. Worst yet, at his hip was his zanpakutō. His hair was no longer in its calm, combed-back style but messy in his face, making him look slightly worse for wear.

Despite this, the familiar, painfully pleasant smile adorned his face. He had one hand behind his back, the other resting calmly on the hilt of his sword. "Kurosaki Ichigo. It has been some time."

"Save it. Last thing I wanted to see was your mug." Ichigo made a dismissive sound of disgust, turning his head away, but keeping his eyes on the traitor. "Hell has disappointed me. You should be writhing in pain, not sauntering around."

The pleasant smile slightly widened. "I have currently escaped my punishment. Worry not, it will come find me, eventually. And such wonderful timing." He gave the hybrid a bow of his head, scanning him. "I still cannot sense your reiatsu...You are indeed an evolutionary masterpiece."

Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo didn't respond. He didn't have time for this. He began to walk away and sensed Kokutō following him.

"What brings you here, Kurosaki Ichigo? Is it perhaps because of...Ichimaru Gin?"

Ichigo went still.

"I've been to see his punishment. I must say, whatever did you and Matsumoto-san do to him?" There was a knowing smile in the smug voice.

A feeling of dread began to grow within Ichigo at these words. Slowly, he turned to glance at Aizen between his bangs. "What is his punishment?"

"I've a feeling you'll see soon enough." Aizen glanced around before looking back at him. "I'd love to continue our conversation, but my time away from my own punishment is limited. You are not a Togabito, Kurosaki Ichigo. I do hope it remains that way."

With that, the traitor disappeared.

Knowing the man was suffering from some unknown torment wasn't enough to satisfy Ichigo. At the same time, he felt a bit uneasy and lost, knowing he was the reason Aizen was in Hell to begin with. It was a strange feeling.

Kokutō came to his side, reminding him of why he was there.

Shaking his head, he ran towards the end of the level, this time with his companion in the lead. Into the mist they ran, and all became cloudy for several minutes. After a while of running, within the mist, it became apparent they were running down stairs. What looked like wooden beams became visible above them and they were attached to two more wooden beams holding them up at the sides, giving Ichigo the impression of a shrine entrance.

The path narrowed. Slowly, the mist gave away, until reddis-orange became evident ahead. The ground turned charred, and at their sides were what looked exactly like endless rows of shrine lanterns.

Ichigo was curious about them, but not enough to ask.

Regardless, Kokutō seemed to sense his curiosity and said, "These shrines...We're not quite certain what they're for, ourselves."

Slightly frowning, Ichigo glanced at them. They were like somber eyes, staring forward in solemn acceptance...

The distant sounds of screams began to echo through the cavern. Shortly after this, they came upon an opening tinted red. Kokutō slowed, and Ichigo came up behind him.

"What's wrong?"

The Togabito glanced back at him, halting. "Ahead is a treacherous place, Ichigo. No sane Togabito come here, not unless they're willing to test their luck against the unique Guardians of this level. In truth, I seldom come to this place because the worst punishments, nigh inescapable ones, are meted out, here."

If that was true, why the literal Hell wasn't Aizen here? That was the one thought running through Ichigo's head. And it made him very angry.

There was no way what Gin did in the past was worse than what Aizen did.

No way.

None at all.

Ichigo refused to believe it.

As if aware of his train of thought, Kokutō's expression became somber. "Do you know why it is possible to temporarily escape the punishments of Hell?"

Ichigo had an idea, but he said nothing.

Kokutō answered, anyway. "It's to psychologically torture the Togabito, give us false hope that we're free, only for us to be snagged and dragged back to suffer. Eventually, this breaks us..." He glanced towards the opening ahead. "That's how I met Gin. I doubt he's escaped his punishment, this time. But...Ichigo. Prepare yourself. It's not pretty."

Becoming antsy, Ichigo's grasp on his blade tightened again.

Sighing, Kokutō led the way forward.

Upon exiting, it was as if covers came off their ears as screams and cries rang out. For the first several feet of hilled, reddish land, endless rows of the tops of what had to be skulls lined the blackened ground. The immediate area was also sandy, giving off faint traces of reiatsu. Ichigo shivered as he figured what he was standing on. At the sides of the cavern entrance behind them was what looked like molted lava falling like waterfalls into pits in the ground.

They continued forward, minding the skulls, and the closer they came to the top of the tallest hill, the heavier and denser the atmosphere became. The screams increased, becoming louder and more plaintive. The mounting dread within Ichigo was causing him to shake, and he loathed every minute of it. He knew, without a doubt, the vision that would greet him over the last hill was going to cause his anxiety to increase.

And, as they came to stand at the top of the hill, it didn't disappoint.

A black sky tinted a deep red rumbled and thundered above. The land was slightly mounded, dark, black and reddish, with large round pits littered about as far as the eye could see. In what may have been the center of the land in the far distance ahead was a massive stone monument with the body of a large skeleton lacking arms or legs. At the far left and right were mountains that looked like volcanoes, yet they lacked visible magma.

Traversing the land, chasing after Togabito, were tall, charred skeletons with googly yellow eyes that seemed to grab them, crush them and eat them. Sweltering heat and boiling steam emitted from fissures in the ground. Chains could be heard rattling, mixed with the cries and screams of the damned.

It was truly a landscape befitting of Hell.

Ichigo swallowed. He couldn't imagine Gin here. "Where is he?"

Kokutō pointed towards the left mountain. "In there. But let me tell you, it's a long trip. The mountains are bigger than life."

Ichigo scowled, but not at what Kokutō said. It was because he sensed the familiar reiatsu of those four Togabito. "Those guys are back..."

"What guy—oh." Kokutō also made a face of displeasure.

In the distance, amongst the other shambling forms of mindless Togabito, four figures were noticeable. They weren't black, this time.

A purple eye scanned the hybrid, then at the land. "I have an idea. You find Gin. I'll handle Shuren and the others."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Even if I die, I can take them with me. I'll only be brought back, anyway..."

Ichigo turned to look at Kokutō. He gave the man a long, steady stare before looking forward again. "I have an even better idea."

"Oh?"

"You set back, and I'll handle this." Without wasting a moment for a response, Ichigo flew forward. As he passed the pits, he saw people being whipped, staring off screaming, being sliced, cut into, and all manners of torture that made his stomach twist. Others were having such horrible things happen to them, he turned away so he wouldn't have to look at it.

His heart thumping wildly in his chest, he shivered with internal horror.

 _Why_ was Gin here...?

 _What_ did he do to deserve Hell...?

The closer he came to the four figures, he began to realize...something was very wrong.

For one, the Togabito that were around weren't just the mindless ones. There were also partially mindless ones about, watching those who were being tortured within the pits, which was sickening. Fortunately, some of them were dragged inside by black skeleton hands, as if to punish them for their voyeuristic observation.

Additionally, the world itself was affecting Ichigo again. This time, with a vengeance.

He panted hard as he maneuvered through the land. His chest hurt, like something dark was fighting to get out of him. The pain, though he could ignore it, was beginning to overwhelm his psyche. Swallowing, he shook his head, then glanced over as one of the black skeletons took notice of him. It reached out for him, but he easily sliced it in half, not breaking his stride.

The other thing was that the skeletons stalking about didn't seem to take notice of the four Togabito, who stood together, as if waiting patiently for him to near. When he came to them, the one standing in front gave a pleased smile.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said.

Ichigo recognized the voice. It was the leader of the four Togabito, undoubtedly the one Kokutō named Shuren. He, like the others, lacked his black robes and mask, revealing clothes that were similar to the typical Togabito, the grey with black, only he had a cloak and had squares instead of lines. His dark magenta hair was ear-length, with a long side bangs that covered his left eye.

"So glad you could make it. Are you here to find you precious one?"

One of those behind Shuren was a tall man in the traditional Togabito garb, only it was a bodysuit. His arms were long, wormlike tendrils sharply tapered at the ends. His eyes were also hidden by the same grey wraps. Another was the hulking form of a man with green hair and his lower body covered in the wrappings. The last one was a very pudgy, round man. He wore a long-sleeved cloak-like top with an opening in the front that revealed his spotted stomach and _very_ small loincloth in comparison to his body.

Instead of answering, Ichigo growled at them.

"That's good!" Shuren laughed. He held out his hands. "Come, come! Only you can destroy the Gates of Hell and free us!"

When Ichigo stood, they took steps away. "Beat it...for the last time...and I won't kill you."

The tentacled man shrugged. "Death threats mean nothing in Hell. Even if you kill us now, we'll only come back. And we can continue over and over until you give us what we want. Then, we give you want _you_ want."

Ichigo seethed, baring his teeth and his eyes narrowing dangerously. He felt the dark power within him bubbling to the surface. Part of him didn't care if he let it out. The last remnants of his sanity told him if he did that, he wouldn't be able to see Gin again.

Shuddering, he clenched his chest and lowered back to the ground. Distantly, he heard Zangetsu telling him the atmosphere of Hell was too deeply affecting him—particularly the area they were in. The four Togabito merely watched him, smiles on their faces. Glancing up at them, Ichigo scowled as he realized what was happening.

They _wanted_ him to lose control.

All the more reason why he couldn't.

His fingers dug into the ground, his deep, warbled breaths interrupted by echoic growling that was deeper and more menacing than he'd ever heard it before. Zangetsu was shouting at him, but he couldn't hear it clearly. His eyes rolled closed, his grasp on his sword loosening.

Around him, the sound of fighting abruptly broke out. The four Togabito seemed to be fighting off the Hell Guardians in the area, trying to prevent them from getting to him. They wouldn't last long, but Ichigo's mind was beginning to go blank.

While grasping desperately onto his consciousness, he barely made out the sounds of shock and anger. Was that Kokutō he sensed...? There was another Togabito near, as well, one that was unfamiliar. He again fought to stand, his eyes opening blearily. He had to move. He had to find Gin...

Kokutō was in front of him, a jagged black blade in his hand. Only then did Ichigo realize the four Togabito had disappeared. "Ko...kutō..." he breathed.

A dark smirk overcame the man's face. "There, Gin. You can take care of it, now."

Ichigo's heart jumped to his throat, but he was confused. "Wh...wha..." His words trailed off, his eyes going wide, as Kokutō moved aside, revealing another Togabito.

The same tightly slanted eyes, the same silver hair...the same large, mocking smile. It was Gin. He was missing his prosthetic arm, but it was him, in the flesh. Ichigo knew it. His eyes watering, Ichigo took an uneasy step forward, reaching for him. "G-Gin..."

The large, mocking smile grew impossibly wider, and it was enough so that Ichigo paused, even in his condition. Because the smile wasn't just mocking.

It was a mocking, sinister, unbelievably _vengeful_ smile.

And for reasons he wasn't entirely sure of yet, Ichigo felt his heart fall to the pit of his stomach. Gin never looked at him like that before, even when he wasn't in his right mind.

Something was horribly wrong.

Unsure whether to move or not, Ichigo's hand lowered to his side, just as Gin calmly approached him. His heart pumped frantically, both from unease and from the excitement of finally, _finally_ seeing his mate again. But that very unease prevented him from doing anything more than stare.

Gin was still horribly skinny but didn't look sickly. He wore a long tunic, much like Kokutō's, and a familiar wakizashi was in held in his obi. His clothes, like all the other Togabito, were grey with black lines. His feet were bare and around his neck was a dark grey scarf.

Ichigo began to reach for the scarf.

Lightning fast, Gin took his hand and lowered it. The smile widened again. "Sorry..."

With the same unbelievably fast movement, he reached for his blade and plunged it into Ichigo's chest.

Wide tawny eyes slowly stared down the pale arm to see his heart had been stabbed.

Gin lifted his head, so they were staring at one another. "Not sorry~" he sang with pleasure.

In the second after these words were said, Ichigo's eyes lost their spark of life.

Like a light switch, his vision went black.


	6. Interlude II – GOD NOISE

The darkness, so deep, so unnatural, was not part of his inner world. Ichigo was lost in it and wasn't floating, as he had been, once. Instead, he was still, as if stuck within his being. Flashes of red light, movement, color...They were the only indicators he had that he was still alive, that his eyes were still open in the waking world.

But he didn't care.

All that repeated in his mind was the look of hate, of resentment, that was flashed at him with a dark smile from the face of the man he loved. What little that was left of his waning sanity from over these long eight months told him it was Hell. Hell made Gin not recognize him, Hell twisted Gin, Hell did _something_ to Gin. It had to have done something. Gin would never look at him like that, otherwise.

If he could cry, he would cry tears of rage, frustration, confusion.

What happened...?

How could he have been so close to Gin...only to end up like this? And for the umpteenth time in his life, was he dying? Or did his transformation stop him from dying—again? He was certain he had transformed...which didn't happen when he was stabbed by Grimmjow...

It didn't matter.

Little mattered, at this point.

Rage began to overwhelm his other two emotions, swallowing what little of his consciousness that was left. He felt as if he was drowning by it, unable to breathe, unable to fight off the oncoming, inevitable fright that followed.

Something wasn't right...

More flashes of color. Then, sound. Something was howling. It was so pained, that howl. It was like a dirge of agonizing grief, a wail of betrayal, a roar of rage.

Red. Everything became red. Chains rattled. There was laughing, maniacal, happy laughing. Explosions, rumbles after booms and more explosions. Someone sounded utterly confused, angry.

He knew that voice...

He _loved_ that voice.

The howls continued. Intermittently, there were screams. They were very human, those screams. They were like cries of pain, ululations of sadness, yowls of fury.

Black. It went back to black.

Then the red returned, as did the mindless laughter. More explosions, more rumbles and booms. Someone called a name.

He knew that name...

That was his name.

He grasped on to something, and between the black and the red was silver. His name was called again, louder, angrily.

The howls and the screams and the cries continued.

More red, a deeper, richer color. It caught his attention. Clearly, too clearly, he made out blood trickling from cuts on a pale arm. More silver...crescent eyes...

It hit him with a jolt of fear. He began to fight desperately against the drowning rage.

 _Gin...It's Gin! Stop hurting him! Stop...!_

He couldn't speak, couldn't make his body cease its movement. This time, he saw Gin clearly, his face pained and fighting to pull away from a white-armored, clawed grasp.

 _STOP!_

Like a light switch turning on, the world was back, again.

Ichigo blinked, the sight before him coming into focus. The roar was dying in his throat, and so much of the landscape had been decimated. Bodies—no, _pieces_ of the bodies of Togabito and Guardians alike lay scattered over the dark realm, and the lightning in the heavens seemed to be angrier than before. His black claws had punctured into a pallid arm. He held onto it with a dangerous vice grip.

But that's not what really had his attention.

The eyes. Those beautiful eyes. Sanguine red. Crystal blue.

He tried to speak, but it was a struggle. "G...Gin..." His voice was horribly warbled, frighteningly echoic. Unnatural. Unearthly. Was that really his voice...?

Gin was panting, his expression lacking its signature smile. In its place was a dark scowl. "Let. Me. _Go_."

As if burned, Ichigo let go of him, stepping away as he realized what he had done. Gin's arm was bleeding from deep puncture marks, and he grabbed his sword from the ground before moving away with shunpō.

Anger and fear rose within Ichigo, and that anger quickly rose to boiling rage. He let out an indignant roar before seeming to take a single step forward that brought him before Gin, causing the man to halt. He grabbed Gin's arm again and pulled him closer, almost causing Gin to fall to the ground.

Fear.

It was so potent in the air, Ichigo could sense it.

In a split second, his own terror overrode his rage, and he let go. "G...Gin," he said again, but no matter which way he tried, he sounded menacing.

Gin glared at him. He opened his mouth to say something when he was abruptly yanked back by some invisible force. Chains rattled, and dark shackles emerging from his body, arms and neck became visible. He tried grabbing at the ground with his hand but was easily and swiftly pulled by his chains towards the mountain in the distance.

Roaring again, Ichigo charged a cero between his horns, aiming at the mountain. The tri-directional ball of energy grew larger and larger until it was wider than the distance between the horns themselves. Just as he let the cero go, however, a chain wrapped around his left horn and jerked him to the left.

The horizon went alight with explosions, engulfing the sky with black and red as the blast swept through. Amongst the remaining Hell Guardians and flailing Togabito hit by the sweeping cero was none other than Kokutō, who looked completely different from before. Laughing maniacally, he was engulfed in a bluish shield that—shockingly—held against the cero but destroyed his chains.

Focusing his attention to him, Ichigo roared. He didn't have time for this...!

As the explosions continued enveloping the sky, he turned back to see Gin was gone. Growling, he turned completely around and was about to bound off, but a chain wrapped around his horn again, halting him.

"Where are you going, Ichigo?"

His head snapping back to look, Ichigo spotted Kokutō, but he was different. Apparently, his headwrap had come undone, revealing the right side of his face was severely burned, his eye possibly blind, and his hair was unusual from the white hair on his left side. Despite this, what stood out was the maniacal look in his eye, the smirk on his face. It was entirely different from the Kokutō that Ichigo had become acquainted with.

Kokutō tugged on the one invisible chain connected to his body, which he had wrapped around Ichigo's horn. Ichigo could see a dark shimmer of its true form. "You cut off all the others. Too bad Gin was taken back to his punishment; I'm sure he would have triggered you to go on for a while longer..."

Slowly, despite his condition, Ichigo put two and two together.

Kokutō was also using him, just like those four Togabito from before.

A deep growl rumbled from his throat, and he turned to face Kokutō completely with a snarl of anger.

This only seemed to please him. "That's right!" he laughed, waving his hands for the hybrid to come closer. "Be angry!"

But Ichigo wasn't angry. Not at Kokutō, anyway.

Kokutō was a gnat.

Gnats were only irritating.

The chain around his horn began to unravel, but Ichigo wasn't having that. He grabbed the chain and gave it a simple but powerful yank. The resulting shout of surprise was abruptly cut off as Kokutō suddenly found his neck in the grasp of a pale white hand with black claws.

"I...chi...go," he breathed, struggling with both hands to escape. An escalating look of realization and fear began to form on his face, as if noting the hybrid's power was entirely different when faced with it up front.

Ichigo brought him closer, growling lowly in the Togabito's face. Without warning, he slammed the man to the ground—once, then twice, and thrice, disfiguring the already scarred face before throwing the limp body away. Like a bullet, Kokutō flew far and fast, but the hybrid wasn't done with him. A quick cero shot from between Ichigo's horns, and as he turned to face the mountain, the explosion engulfed the sky.

 _Gin..._

He sped off towards the mountain, unaware of the final chain falling to the ground far behind him.

~:Edgr:E:~

The closer he came to the behemoth mound of rock, the more his consciousness slipped. The atmosphere of Hell was once more affecting him. His body kept moving forward, as he wanted it to, and continued to easily eliminate all that came in its way. But _he_ , the one who should have been in control of his body, was not the one moving it.

He didn't want to be like this if he was going to see Gin, again.

He didn't want to hurt Gin, again.

But his body went forward, using superior speed to pass pit after pit as he flew by. The wails of the damned echoed in his ears. He ignored them all, focusing on the fact that he had to get Gin out of here. He didn't care how, but it was happening. Kokutō proved he _did_ have the power to destroy the chains which bound the Togabito. Apparently, it wasn't destroying the Gates that did it, after all, which made more sense.

He arrived at the foot of the blackened mountain in mere moments. He didn't give it so much of a glance but did slow down. There was what seemed to be an entrance to the inside carved out in the rock. It looked like a natural formation instead of any sort of man-made—or creature-made—opening.

The sudden and inexplicable sensation of dread overcame Ichigo as he neared the entrance. As if understanding, his body moved faster, entering without hesitation.

The moment he entered, he heard a cacophony of sounds, so many wretched sounds. There was no way to describe it, but he wouldn't have tried, anyway.

And he hated every bit of it.

The entire interior was dark, jagged, rough, and uninviting. Dim orange, everlasting flames were lit throughout several halls and staircases spiraling in all directions, including into the ground. It was a maze. A deceptively normal hellhole. But with his senses, Ichigo could tell the interior was made of charred bone instead of rock.

His instinct told him Gin was in the lower maze. He couldn't control his body to go in a different direction, even if he wanted to. A horrible feeling began to twist his insides as he went down endless, broken staircases and through dimly lit halls. He passed by cells and more cells and pits and the screaming, the groaning, the moaning, the crying, the begging; he blocked it all out. He had to. But there was one thing he was absolutely certain of.

This place was worse than the pits outside. The pits contained Togabito who were in a constant state of death and rebirth.

But there were things far worse than death.

As he went further down, he came to notice some Togabito skulking about. They seemed mindless, but there was something oddly coherent about them. They seemed to be stuck in their own minds, screaming as they held their heads, tearing their flesh from own bodies, held down by invisible attackers as they cried and pled for the torture to stop. It sent chills down Ichigo's back.

Exactly what was this place...?

He then came upon a hall that had walls made of evident jagged bone. He would have ignored it, if not for the sight within.

A tall, hooded figure passed through the wall, stalking and hunched like some sort of creature as it dragged an unconscious Togabito. However, when he appeared, it stopped phasing through the wall and turned to look at him.

It was another yellow, googly-eyed being, its decaying, almost skeletal hand held out in front of it as if it was a ghost from the movies. But its body was hidden in the darkness of the cloak, its eyes glowing from within. If the eyes meant anything, it was another Guardian of Hell.

It let go of the Togabito's body. Twitching and dragging like nothing Ichigo ever saw before, it began to shamble over. Red energy grew between his horns. He leaned forward and began to charge a large cero, but a whisper within his soul told him he couldn't do that. He could risk hurting Gin, wherever he was.

Instead of letting the cero grow very large, it was merely the size of the hall as it destroyed the creature that had come so close to him. The entire underground rumbled, and screams increased in pitch. Internally, Ichigo winced. Externally, he merely jumped down to the next floor made in the hall from the blast.

Another ping of fear began to eat at him, but it was ignored. All worries could be dealt with _after_ Gin was back in his arms.

Finally, he came to a place that was lined with bone cells. The sounds of torture were far more intimate, here, and another shudder went down his back. Shackles led all over the ground, but they were somehow different from the ones tied to the Togabito. For one, they were clearly visible, and were flimsier, but still supernaturally strong. With time, he imagined powerful Togabito could escape. Giving the room a menacing ambiance, the flames were very dim, here.

The unwanted feeling of dread grew a tenfold.

Moving faster, he turned around a corner to a dark hall where there was more dim light and the sounds of voices...strangely, jarringly familiar voices.

A woman was crooning. Someone else, likely a man, was panting, groaning. Another man was trying to stifle sounds of pain, anger, and struggling.

There was also a strange sound in the air...

Ichigo's hackles raised.

 _No..._

He flew down the hall in a second, and he came upon a cell where he spotted orange hair at the front. In the back, as he stepped closer, he spotted strawberry-blond hair...and silver hair.

A low growl emitted from him, and he stepped closer. In the next second, he halted.

And his blood ran cold.

And his heart fell to his feet.

And his body tingled with disbelief. Distress. Fright. _Rage_.

But more than anything, pure, unadulterated _horror_.

Against his will, he took in the sight. Gin was on his back, struggling, his arm held from behind by what looked exactly like Rangiku, but that couldn't be right. She was entirely naked, and a dark, pleased expression twisted her face as she crooned into Gin's ear, using her other hand to stroke Gin's chest. Gin's eyes stared loathingly into the face of what could only be a doppelgänger of Ichigo. Said doppelgänger was committing the ultimate sin, the ultimate psychological torture the hybrid believed anyone could ever perform.

Gin's body rocked, squirmed, and tried to fight against it, but he was evidently too weak as the doppelgänger thrusted hard and fast into him. It was visibly painful, as Gin was biting his lower lip so hard he was bleeding, and he groaned in pain between whimpering sounds of unwanted pleasure.

"You're mine, Gin," the doppelgänger groaned. It sounded just like _him_. Like Ichigo. It moved even faster before locking up in an orgasm of some twisted sort, and the Rangiku clone giggled as Gin suddenly writhed in agony.

And the straw that broke the camel's back was when Gin screamed, his eyes shutting closed.

A monstrous roar shook the entire underground as Ichigo grabbed the bars of the cell and yanked them away. Easily, they gave in to his might, shattering as they hit the ground. The two doppelgängers didn't seem to notice him, as they continued their torture upon his mate.

Like a fiend, he loomed over his doppelgänger and grabbed it by its hair, tugging back so hard, its whole body followed. It didn't even make a sound, but it did try to grab onto his wrist.

That action got its arm violently ripped off.

Yet, again, it didn't make a sound. It even bled.

The hybrid threw the hand back, then continued to drag the doppelgänger away by its hair, still screeching in emotional pain.

It looked like him in _every way_.

 _EVERY_ way.

Throwing the creature into the hall, where it regained itself by spinning into a crouch, he gave his sword a wave. In that single wave, the cells disappeared, the walls caved in, and the doppelgänger was no more as a Kuroi Getsuga obliterated the area before him.

As the underground became unstable, he flashed back to his mate and likewise grabbed the Rangiku clone by its hair. Pulling it away from Gin's body, he didn't waste time to use a cero, using Zangetsu to slice its head off, instead. Again, there wasn't a sound. But it did bleed.

Dropping the lifeless head, Ichigo gave all his attention to his mate. Removing his mask and dropping his sword, he kneeled before him, shakily reaching out for him.

"G...Gin..." he managed, his voice almost impossible to understand from how warbled and echoic it was. "I'm...here. Gin...?"

Gin's eyes were slanted open, and he tried to shuffle away from Ichigo, but he was just too weak. All too easily, he seemed to resign himself to his fate, his body going limp and his eyes rolling closed again.

Whimpering, the hybrid placed Zangetsu on his back. He then put his mask back on and pulled down Gin's tunic before gently scooping him into his arms. There wasn't any movement. No protesting. Even that would have been something...much as that hurt...

But he held Gin close to him, rumbling softly as he nuzzled into his mate's hair.

Softly, he murmured, "Out...Getting...out...Gin."

Still, there was no response.

~:Edgr:E:~

The mountain erupted. Like a volcano, the top blew up, scattering pieces of rock and dust to the surrounding area while black and red emerged from the hole. Like bolts of electricity, the energy crawled down the sides of the mountain, and a screeching wail of rage rang out into the dark world.

The hybrid jumped down from the mountain, holding his mate close to him, and landed hard when he hit the ground, creating a crater. The moment he landed, several skeletons were near to attack him. But a cero was already charging, and it swept through the land, blowing up all and everything in its wake.

The hybrid couched low before flying forward. His mind ran by a simple mantra:

 _Can't...stay...Must...leave...Leave...with Gin._

When he neared the shrine area, he came to an abrupt halt. There was something off about it. The lights were visible from within the cavern, and they seemed to be dancing, casting shadows of what looked like beings that were coming closer...and closer...

Gin suddenly moved, groaning loudly and writhing. "Stop...please," he murmured in his sleep.

Seconds after he spoke, more googling yellow eyes became visible within the cavern. Wispy, wormlike figures emerged, but they were translucent, save for their eyes. The clamor of whispering erupted around Ichigo, emitting from the figures before him. It was difficult to make out what they were saying, but Ichigo didn't care.

He shifted, as if hesitant, but sped forward into the cavern. The whispering became angry hollering, and ghostly hands reached out for him from the blown-out shrines. He could sense the figures were following him, but he was fortunately too fast for them.

Or so he thought.

~:Edgr:E:~

Abruptly, he found himself in his inner world, where the sky was unnaturally dark, almost black, and it was raining so hard, he could barely see. The second he arrived, a sharp spike of fear arose within him.

"Zangetsu?" he shouted, looking around. "Yabach!"

"King!"

He ran towards the sound of the echoing voice where, as he came closer, he also heard the sounds of fighting. The winds picked up as he neared, much to his concern. He couldn't ever recall such weather in his inner world.

What met his sight as he finally came upon Zangetsu and Yabach caused him to halt.

In the sky was a magnificent, tall being dressed in red garb with black undertones. It was difficult to clearly make out in the sky, but it clearly had large black wings and birdlike characteristics. Said wings were flapping slowly, but powerfully, creating massive gusts of wind. Both of Ichigo's avatars were fighting against it.

But its most obvious feature, of all things, were its googly, yellow eyes. Said eyes turned to look at him, locking with his.

His jaw dropped. It was jarring and unnatural to see another being within his soul.

And damn frightening, at that.

Sounding positively enraged, Zangetsu shouted, "It doesn't belong here, King!"

No, shit.

Ichigo watched as his avatar's attacks of large arrows and Shirōi Getsuga shot at the creature. Even the wind couldn't stop them from hitting their target, which seemed to take it by surprise. The second the wind let off, Ichigo moved.

" _Getsuga_..."

He and Zangetsu were both in bankai, and they appeared directly before the creature and sliced, horizontally and vertically.

" _Jūjishō!_ " they chorused, and the creature was sliced into four quarters.

Almost immediately, the rumbling heavens went quiet. The rain let off, becoming light sprinkles. Ichigo could see, again. Landing on the side of a building, he looked over the creature's remains.

It was, overall, a pseudo-anthropomorphic bird-man, with black feathered wings, a beak, and talon-like claws on his hands and feet. His long, athletic legs were wrapped from his knees to his ankles, then only the soles of his feet were wrapped in white wrapping. His clothes were similar to very short red hakama and kosode with short sleeves. From his elbows to his palms were more white wraps. Designs Ichigo had never seen before adorned him, as well as his skin.

"A..." He took a moment to consider, but it possibly couldn't be anything else. "A ten—"

He didn't get the chance to finish before he was thrown back into the waking world, where his body was moving after clearly halting in place.

~:Edgr:E:~

Kushanāda were waiting for him, and he settled on the sloped land after the shrine area. The whispers and screams behind him had strangely ceased, but he didn't have the mind to check what was happening. Roaring at the Kushanāda, he charged a cero. Fast as the creatures were, the cero was faster, and just as one nearly reached him with its hand, it and its other kind were obliterated by the blast.

The blast swept through, cutting across the mist and causing the horizon to blow up. The explosions were so mighty, they rose to the second floor, causing the water to bubble and boil.

Not a second later, Ichigo emerged, landing on one of the lily-like structures. More Kushanāda were there, waiting for him. An angry, irritated roar responded to this sight, and Gin's body was held against his chest before another cero blew through the area.

The red blast flew as far as the eye could see but struck something in the distance. Several things. Once more, the explosions rose into the air, reaching the first level, blowing away Kushanāda and Togabito alike until it blasted through the already broken Gates of Hell.

Ichigo landed on the first floor, growling softly and ignoring the damage he caused. The area was almost unrecognizable, towers mere debris and pathways crumbled. He took to the air, jumping atop the floating platforms and then into the sky. After a few minutes of nothing, the red gave away to doors larger than life with a massive hole blown through them. The lights of a city were visible, as were people on the other side standing on reishi particles.

It was members of the Gotei 13 and Kidō Corps. The Kidō Corps members were all standing in a wide circle around the gates creating two rings. They stood with their hands before them, chanting as they made symbols. Only two captains were present, but several low-ranked Shinigami were around, more than the norm.

When the blast came their way, all but the Kidō Corps members scattered. The blast gradually dissipated, revealing the hybrid standing in the entrance.

"What in the...?"

"A Hollow?"

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya Tōshirō called in disbelief, recalling the form from the last time Ichigo was in the Soul Society. He looked as if he was going to say more, but Ichigo roared at them, charging a cero.

The new captain of the 3rd Division stepped forward, but Tōshirō stopped her.

"You don't know the power of that cero, Itoh-taichō! It even rendered the Yamamoto-sōtaichō useless!" he said, then ordered a retreat.

"Ichigo!"

The cero stopped charging.

Blinking in surprise, Tōshirō watched as Rangiku stepped forward. She blinked back tears, realizing who was held in Ichigo's arms.

The hybrid slightly tilted his head to the side before approaching her. Whereas the other Shinigami moved away, Rangiku didn't. Coming to stand before her, Ichigo let her see Gin.

He was still unconscious but had long stopped writhing. Tears broke from Rangiku's eyes, and she gently reached out to place a hand on the back of Gin's head. She leaned forward and gave his forehead a kiss.

"Thank you," she said softly, practically a whisper.

Silence was her answer, but the hybrid's actions were stronger than words.

He understood.

But how he wished he could tell her what he _saw_.

A sudden thumping sound brought everyone's attention back to the Gates, and the symbols the Kidō Corps members had been keeping up around them began to tremble. A Kushanāda appeared, reaching out of the hole for Ichigo.

Spinning around, the hybrid roared again, and like the cero never stopped charging, it blasted immediately from between his horns. One moment the massive creature was there, and in the next, it was gone. Even the thumps of the other Kushanāda that were coming up halted during the blast. After the cero dispersed, the thumps continued as more Kushanāda neared.

"Go, Ichigo," Rangiku said so only Ichigo could hear her. "We'll handle this."

There was silence between them for a moment, then the hybrid vanished before their eyes.

* * *

 **A/N:** I

N

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.

.

Y'all probably hate me, right about now.

Now, I know. Going the whole "rape" road is a very cheap way to make tension or a "villain". Or something like that; I read that somewhere. But exactly what is the villain, here? Hell, itself? It's not meant to be clear-cut.

I hope this chapter didn't move too fast. No matter how many times I read it, it seems to move too fast, too soon. I tried to drag it out...I really did.

Oh, yeah, and Shuren and his group were killed by Kokutō and Gin that time while Ichigo was struggling against the effects of Hell. And speaking of Kokutō...I wonder what happened to him...?

Also, did you know Ichigo wasn't in Bankai during this entire fight? He was merely in Shikai, using his larger blade. If he had been in Bankai, there would _be_ no Hell. I figured Ichigo's power was good enough in Shikai, considering the augmentation I gave it and...well, how powerful it is, already. Sheesh, Ichigo.

I wonder what that thing was in Hell that ended up in Ichigo's inner world...In case you are wondering, it is my answer to what happened at the end of the Hell Verse movie. Muwahaha...!

There's a lot that's going to be going on, from here on out. And, boy, the drama is going to pick up a hella lot. All I can really say is things are going to get OOC. But considering what's been happening, that's to be expected, I guess...

Can I torture Ichigo any more?

Yes.

Yes, I will~!

Gin's punishment isn't clear-cut, either. It's not like it was "to be raped for eternity". It's actually a lot more than that, but you'll find out later. Some Togabito get more than one punishment, others' punishments are to simply be in Hell and die over and over...

And though it isn't mentioned explicitly, Ichigo gets Gin's chains off before he appears at the top of the mountain. THAT WASN'T A COP-OUT, I SWEAR.

*Ducks for cover*


	7. The Possession Sequence

Ichigo reappeared some mile or so in the distance. Even as far away as he was that the Shinigami were lesser than specks further back, the Gates of Hell were still clearly visible. Attacks were also visible, ice and fire, interestingly. The fire most likely belonged to the 3rd Division captain. It did its job, as the Kushanāda were being held off.

The adrenaline high from being in Hell and from being enraged was quickly beginning to leave Ichigo's body. The moment he left Hell, he could feel the energy leaving him, and being calm near Rangiku only made it more apparent.

He moved in the air, intending to get further away from the Shinigami and the Gates of Hell. Then, and only then, would he create a garganta and escape.

"Safe...place," he murmured, breathing heavily and slightly hunched over. He continued holding Gin close to him.

There was no telling what, exactly, was the reason for his power to drain so suddenly. The transforming, the adrenaline, leaving Hell...having another entity within his soul. It could be one, or all the above. But at least control over his body had returned.

Something on him beeped. He went still, trying to recall what that meant.

"Kisu...ke...san..."

He went onto his knees in the air, exhausted. He didn't have long to wait before a portal opened near him. Out came Kisuke, Uryū, Hachi, and Chad. They looked as though they were ready to go to Hell, themselves, dressed in battle-ready clothing. Upon seeing Ichigo's condition, their eyes grew wide.

"Ichigo...?" Chad asked, nearing slowly.

"Hurt..." Ichigo lowered his head, bringing Gin to his chest. "Gin...hurt..."

Hachi slowly approached, a hand raised. Ichigo looked up at him, not seeming to mind.

Then, to their great concern, the hybrid keeled over, falling out of the air. They were on him in a second, with Hachi catching Gin and Chad holding Ichigo.

"I...hurt...Gin..." Ichigo muttered, reaching out to Gin before going limp.

At this, they glanced at one another.

Without wasting another moment, they returned into the portal and to Las Noches.

~:Edgr:E:~

The moment the group made it into the fortress, they immediately went to the infirmary. It took the form of a semi-round space with several open doors leading to dimly lit rooms. Down a hall from the center wall were more doors and an office of sorts.

Solena, the active Arrancar doctor, was on them in moments. Her mask remnant was over her nose bridge, and her expression gave nothing away. Ichigo and Gin were brought into different rooms, and two separate nurses along with Hachi began to tend to them. The several moments after were tension-filled, with everyone edgy and unsure how to react.

So, not only did Ichigo make it into Hell and survive, he really did bring Gin back.

But all was not right.

Shortly after the two men were put into their rooms, something was said privately to Kisuke by Solena. She had tended to Gin first, as he seemed to be in worse condition, physically. Whatever was said had him reeling, and his expression morphed into one of great pain and horror. He thanked her before returning slowly to his companions.

Uryū had left to inform the others Ichigo was back, so he wasn't there. Kisuke managed to compose himself as he approached Lisa and Chad and cleared his throat.

"Gin-san san is in a terrible condition," he explained. "Hell has affected his body, and we can only imagine what torture has been done to his mind. His chains, however, are gone. Ichigo-san seems fine, physically. He has left his hybrid form, but Hell has likely affected his body, as well. We just don't know for sure."

In that moment, Uryū returned with the rest of the Vizard, Nelliel and Kon.

"Is...?" Nelliel began, looking at Kisuke.

The scientist nodded. "Ichigo-san is alright." He looked back at the door. "Physically."

"What happened?" asked Shinji. "You guys just left."

Sighing heavily, Kisuke moved away from the door as Solena moved to Ichigo's room. "We followed the tracker to the living world, to our surprise. Ichigo-san had just arrived from Hell, it seemed. He was in his hybrid form but was calmer than we expected. Gin-san was..."

At Kisuke's pained expression, everyone held their breath.

"Gin-san was in wretched condition. Someone...had attacked him..." Kisuke looked disturbed, glancing at the floor.

Heads tilted. Lisa, Shinji, Hachi, Kensei, and Rose's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"How long have they been in there?" Lisa asked softly.

"A few minutes..."

Calming down somewhat, everyone spread around. All were anxious. The atmosphere was dismal, somber. Quiet conversations began as more questions were asked. Coming to Kisuke's side, Shinji looked him in the eye.

"Tell me it's not what I think it is," he said in a whisper.

Kisuke didn't answer, but he gave a single nod.

Exhaling through his mouth, Shinji looked at the door. "That's one way to torture someone..." he muttered with disdain. "I never would have though Hell would stoop so low."

Kisuke gave his friend a dry glance. "It can't stoop any lower, Shinji-san. It's Hell."

"Still..."

"Ichigo-san said _he_ attacked Gin-san. I believe it's more than what it sounds like..." Trailing off, Kisuke shook his head. "I truly hope so. I don't know why Gin-san went to Hell."

Shinji frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

Kisuke took a moment, gathering his thoughts. Carefully, he said, "Gin-san...knew he was going to Hell. There is a good chance...he might think his punishments were deserved."

"No one fucking deserves that." Shinji ran his fingers through his hair, moving away from Kisuke to stand against the wall with his arms folded. Even he knew there was such a possibility. Gin worked in strange ways...

So, then. What was Ichigo's mental state going to be like, now...?

~:Edgr:E:~

With a start, Ichigo popped upright in his bed within the infirmary. His vision was tunnel-like, the familiar darkness that had been so distant at the edges of his sight. But his mind was too overwhelmed, too far gone, for him to understand what was going on. His mind merely ran by a singular mantra:

 _Gin...Where...is Gin?_

A nurse gasped the moment he moved...and from sensing his raw, conscious power. That in itself was jarring, as not only did it feel uncannily _other_ , but it simply _could_ be sensed at all. Ever since his powers returned, his reiatsu was untraceable. Now, it was definable...Definable as _something else_.

She approached him cautiously. "Kurosaki-san? How are you feeling?"

Instead of answering, Ichigo slowly slid from the bed onto his feet. He was unstable, stumbling a bit, and the nurse came closer in a knee-jerk reaction.

In the next moment, she was thrown into the wall by a single swing of Ichigo's hand, leaving a significant hole in it.

His breathing was uneven, as if he was struggling for breath. He began to walk unsteadily towards the door, just as Kisuke and Nelliel appeared. Upon seeing him, their eyes widened.

"Ichigo..." Nelliel immediately went quiet when the hazy, yin-yang eyes turned into her direction.

Anyone could see it, sense it.

Ichigo wasn't himself.

His reiatsu was dark, sweltering, festering, _other_. It was downright frightening, far more than it was after Gin was pulled into Hell. This was a hundred times worse, and it caused both Kisuke and Nelliel to involuntarily shiver.

Well, then.

It seemed Hell had affected Ichigo, after all.

They both moved out of the hybrid's way as he slowly made his way out of the room. They knew where he was going. But was it safe...?

Kisuke was of the mind to rather _be_ safe than sorry. "Ichigo-san," he said calmly, causing the dark eyes to attempt focusing on him as Ichigo went still. "You should rest."

The hybrid twitched. In a hoarse, low voice, he asked, "Gin...Where...?"

"Gin is safe." Kisuke motioned to the bed. "You were in Hell for some time. Please, rest some more. You can see Gin later."

As if realizing his condition, Ichigo's eyes drooped from lethargy. When they did, however, Nelliel stiffened when a shine of yellow glowed in the depths of Ichigo's pupils. Kisuke saw it as well. Ichigo said nothing more, his knees bending as he began to collapse. Nelliel caught him as he fell, and upon hearing him murmur Gin's name, her expression became one of sorrow and worry.

She lifted the young man into her arms and brought him back to the bed. He didn't protest. When she saw the hole in the wall, she pursed her lips, but said nothing. Gently, she placed him in the bed, lying him on his back. His eyes were closed, and he continued to breathe with some difficulty, to her and Kisuke's concern.

It was simple to hook him up to some oxygen, which Kisuke did while Nelliel found the nurse and brought her unconscious form out of the room. After doing so, she returned to the others, who had mostly left the area after the hours that had passed.

In fact, several hours had passed since Ichigo returned from Hell. But Nelliel didn't have to go far, just into a nearby seating area, where the hybrids friends were still anxious as they waited for an update. They were even more anxious, now, having felt Ichigo's reiatsu.

"That...That's Ichigo?" Uryū asked worriedly. At the nod, he, Kon and Chad followed her into the infirmary.

Glancing back at the open door, she merely said, "Something is wrong."

They shifted. That was putting it lightly. It had been some time since they felt Ichigo's reiatsu, so it was jarring to sense the noticeable, uncanny _something_ about it, now.

"Did Hell do that to him?" Uryū asked.

"Most definitely." Returning her gaze to them, Nelliel frowned. "His eyes. There was something in his eyes. Eyes are the window to the soul..."

Their collective expressions worsened, just as Kisuke entered the space. The scientist sighed upon seeing their worried faces. "His condition is undetermined. He's having some trouble breathing and wasn't like this before he awoke. I'm of the mind of a possibility..." He trailed off, glancing away with a frown, as if unsure how to continue his thought. Before they could ask a question, he said, "He's writhing in pain. It's something internal, and we can't pass off the possibility it may be something spiritual. Not where Hell is concerned."

Exhalations of concern and frustration were made.

"Dammit, Ichigo," Kon muttered, glancing into the room. He didn't enter but could see Ichigo tossing in the bed from evident pain. Brown brows furrowed as Kon's expression turned somber. "There's nothing we can do, huh?"

There was a short silence. Kisuke closed his eyes. "I do not know, Kon-san. Hell is entirely new territory to me—to most. Its properties are largely unknown, only theorized and vaguely understood."

"But Gin would know?" Uryū asked, though he sounded hesitant.

Kisuke nodded.

Naturally, Gin would know everything. But his current condition was a fragile one...

Kisuke pursed his lips, then heard a loud groan from within the room behind him. He nodded at the friends. "If all goes wrong, please do everything in your power to keep Ichigo-san and Gin-san separated." At the befuddled expressions given to him, he clarified, "For now."

Slowly, Kon, Chad and Uryū nodded, whereas Nelliel continued to look confused. Of course. Ordinarily, why would they want to keep the two separated? It was a horrible idea...if it wasn't an already horrible situation.

With that, Kisuke went back inside the room.

Ichigo was still writhing. Every now and then, his dark eyes would open, gazing around before rolling back again. They even made direct contact with Kisuke a few times, as if observing to the best of their ability. He was more awake than Kisuke thought.

"Ichigo-san." He came to the bedside but didn't sit in the nearby chair. "Can you hear me?"

The eyes opened again, and Ichigo softly groaned. "Ki...suke...san..." He grabbed the mask over his mouth.

Risking contact, Kisuke gently placed his hand over the hybrid's, stopping him.

"No..." Ichigo's hand, interestingly, lowered despite his words. Shortly after, his eyes closed, and he went still.

It took Kisuke a second, after a moment of silent confusion, to realize the possibility that Ichigo _might not have been speaking to him_. He frowned, keeping his eyes on the young man.

Something was going to happen. He was certain of it.

Moving back by a bit, he placed a waiting hand over his shikomizue sword, ready to unsheathe it.

He didn't have to wait long.

Ichigo's eyes suddenly opened, but his irises were a glowing yellow. The sclera were still black, giving him an eerier appearance than the norm. They snapped over at Kisuke as he slowly, mechanically sat upright while removing the mask.

"Where is he?"

The voice that emitted from Ichigo's mouth was not entirely his own. Two voices were talking at once, Ichigo's and an uncannily calm, masculine one. Worse yet, the bit that was Ichigo's voice sounded pained.

Eyes narrowing, Kisuke grasped his cane handle. "I assume you mean Gin-san, stranger. If you cannot sense his reiatsu, I refuse to tell you. Am I correct in saying Ichigo-san is not allowing you to sense anyone?"

"Yes..." Raising a hand, the entity within Ichigo's body flexed its hand, which was twitchy and not entirely responsive. "He is putting up an admirable fight against me, preventing me from utilizing all of his abilities. His spirit is remarkably strong. Perhaps after taking care of the traitor, I shall devour this boy's soul."

Kisuke unsheathed Benihime. "I cannot let you do that."

An orange brow rose, then the yellow eyes looked the former captain over. "Yes...You are a considerable threat. A true Shinigami. I have not seen your kind in millennia."

"If I may ask, what are you?" Kisuke calmly asked.

"In your language, if I understand, I may be called a Mononoke." Glowing eyes flashed. There was a slight smile. "I assume you understand what that means."

Kisuke's already grave expression darkened. From what Gin once explained to him, the most powerful of the Mononoke, or spirits that possessed and caused suffering, were those of the Yōkai variety. Judging by this one's ability to possess a powerful being like Ichigo, that is likely what it was.

The problem was, once a Yōkai latched onto a soul...

Kisuke grimaced but remained calm. He watched as the Mononoke tried to move, but it did so with extreme difficulty. Its movement was jerky, rigid. Despite this, it seemed to be at ease, its expression unchanged. Blood began to pour from its eyes, and it merely wiped it away with a claw—a claw Kisuke didn't noticed until it did so.

In fact, Ichigo's body was beginning to change. The claws, and dark lines in a sort of pattern were forming underneath his eyes. Then, of course, there were his irises and his reiatsu.

Suddenly, the Mononoke leaned forward, grasping its face. "No..." It was Ichigo's voice that spoke, this time. "K-Kisuke...san..."

Kisuke raised his head a bit. "Ichigo-san."

"I can't...hold it off...It's...powerful." Ichigo groaned, clutching his chest. "It wants Gin...It wants to...kill him. S-something...about...something inside him...Kisuke-san, I can't...He was...so afraid of me."

Sheathing Benihime, Kisuke came closer. "Listen to me, Ichigo-san. You _must_ keep fighting."

"So tired..." Ichigo opened his eyes, revealing they were black and white again. Blearily, he stared forward, then closed them. "I...can't..."

"You must, or you will die." Kisuke spoke quickly, but evenly. "You are possessed by a Yōkai spirit. It _will_ kill you if you stop fighting."

A weary, shaky exhale escaped the hybrid. "So...tired..."

As Ichigo's hands and head went limp, Shinji appeared in the doorway. He and Kisuke watched as Ichigo continued to sit upright and off the side of the bed, to their concern. The Vizard didn't say anything, disturbed, no doubt, by the hybrid's reiatsu.

Kisuke glanced at him. "How is he?"

Aware he was speaking of Gin, Shinji shook his head grimly. "Awake. But he's...ah...not exactly the Gin we knew..."

"Gin..."

Kisuke winced. The former captains looked at Ichigo, who spoke with two voices again.

Yellow and black eyes looked up at them. " _She_ must die."

Realizing what he triggered, Shinji grimaced. "Ah, shit."

The next second, the Mononoke tried to move past Kisuke. It was so fast, it succeeded, and nearly made it by Shinji, but the Vizard was able to grab and put it into a lock. He held it from under its arms, pulling it back.

It struggled, locking eyes with Ichigo's friends, who watched in wary, horrified awe. Clearly, that burst of energy was all it was able to muster against Ichigo, as it then went rigid, its expression twisting for a moment.

Shinji, with great effort, brought it back into the room, and Kisuke didn't need to be told before he raised his hand and made a fist. Yellow energy was summoned, and it took the form of thick rope. Shinji moved away with just a second to spare before the spell bound Ichigo's body. As the Mononoke couldn't truly move, anyway, Shinji then lifted it onto the bed in a supine position.

It heaved a deep sigh, but only closed its eyes. Its expression twitched, then it went still again.

Kisuke and Shinji exchanged glances.

Goodness knew what was happening inside of Ichigo's soul.

~:Edgr:E:~

On one knee in Bankai, Ichigo took a breather on the side of a building in his inner world. It was in the worst condition he had ever seen it in before: buildings crumbling, the sky flashing with lightning, the heavens roaring and booming with thunder, and darkened clouds pouring a deluge of rain.

Some distance away, Zangetsu and Yabach fought the creature off, once again. It hadn't truly died, last time, as they found out the hard way.

And damn, if it wasn't powerful.

And the _pain_.

Its very presence was bringing Ichigo a lasting, ripping, burning pain. Was this how Gin felt, having a foreign entity within him...?

His eyes rolling, Ichigo lowered onto both knees, teetering as he tried not to fall over.

"Fight, King!"

As if to emphasize the point, a sudden, powerful gust of wing knocked him back. He flew far down the building but forced himself to land into a crouch. Raising his head, he watched as spiraling Getsuga Tenshō and large arrows hailed upon the creature. It wasn't flying, anymore; Zangetsu made sure of that. Both its wings were ripped off, and it switched from wind-based distance attacks to close-ranged attacks on the defense.

Zangetsu was using Bankai, his form the hybrid one Ichigo had only seen him in once before. Hell, he was using attacks Ichigo had never seen before: the spiraling Getsuga Tenshō, both his inverted Kuroi Getsuga and, interestingly, aka; red. The Akai Getsuga attacks seemed to be connected to his blade, causing damage manually, somehow.

And Yabach was no different, showing off unusual abilities. He wielded two swords, one that was his manifestation of the blade Zangetsu and another that was what Ichigo could only describe as a reishi broadsword. With said weapon, he had summoned a massive bow with six equally enormous arrows in it.

Ichigo moved unsteadily to his feet.

So, he learned two things.

One, his spirit avatars were holding back on him and really needed to kick his ass more often.

Two...they could do this.

He shook his head, blinking away the haze trying to overcome his vision. He then ran forward, grasping his sword tightly. There was still a fight left in him.

If not for himself, then for Gin. He wouldn't let anyone, or any _thing_ , hurt Gin ever again.

The reminder propelled his determination, and he interrupted the two-on-one fight with a powerful, massive wave of a Kuroi Getsuga.

The creature held up its hands, taking the hit head-on. It disappeared from view by the sheer force of the attack.

"Wait, Ichigo!" Yabach called in a panic.

The moment between Ichigo lowering his hands and the creature reappearing was too close. Both Zangetsu and Yabach were just inches away as it happened.

Ichigo was still in the motion of the swing for the attack when the creature touched his chest.

A wretched scream rang out in the dark world. It was long and agonized, shaking the scape to the core, Ichigo's core, of his whole being.

The screaming became louder.

And louder. The rain came down so horribly, vision was nigh impossible.

And even _louder_. The heavens were alight with streaks of flashing light, as if enraged and anxious.

Then, abruptly, the scream cut off. All that was left was its haunting echo before the world went still. The rain stopped, but the heavens turned red, rumbling yet again with solemn thunder.

Only a single figure remained standing on the side of the building.

Slowly, eyes with yellow irises opened.


	8. KILL YOUR DARLING

**A/N:** *Stares blearily at the screen* I did it...Now I can go to sleep!

 **8\. KILL YOUR DARLING**

* * *

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. They were tawny at first, but when he winced, they briefly turned yellow before fading back to their natural color. He held his head as he sat up, emitting a soft groan, and felt nauseated. He remained in bed, leaning forward, until he thought he could go without wanting to vomit. Swallowing, he moved off the side of the bed, frowning as his joints cracked, as if he hadn't moved in a long time. He then looked around.

He was inside one of the many infirmaries of Las Noches, specifically the one that was used by the human, Shinigami and Vizard inhabitants. And him, of course. But...

How did he get here...?

His last vivid memory was...

His eyes widened. Gin. Where was Gin?

Feeling off, he moved to stand from the side of the bed. He stumbled a bit, and his vision warped out before returning to normal. Shaking his head, he took a moment before moving. What the hell was wrong with him, now...?

He opened the room door, revealing the semi-circle interior of the infirmary's main room. He spotted several doors leading to other rooms. One in particular was occupied. Occupied by Gin.

His lips spread into a thankful smile. Gin was back...but something still wasn't...right. He felt as though he was missing something, forgetting something important. But, for the life of him, he couldn't remember...

A twisting in his _head_ , of all places, made him softly grunt. He rubbed it with a wince, looking at the door where Gin was. And he hesitated.

Why, in the name of all that was good, was he hesitant to see _Gin?_ This was his mate. _Gin_. Had...something happened that he couldn't remember?

Again, he winced from pain in his head.

Yeah, there was definitely something going on.

Yet...

Something was telling him to see Gin, anyway. His head tilted to the side, and he was unaware his eyes once more flashed to yellow. He winced again and closed one of them. The deepest yearning grew within him, and he began to walk towards the door. But he halted. Then he took another step, only to halt again.

He exhaled sharply, holding his head.

He couldn't make up his mind...! This wasn't normal, at all! Giving his head another, vehement shake, he moved from the infirmary main and back into his room. Maybe he was there for a reason...

Sitting back on the bed, he began to stress out. He wanted to see Gin... _so_ badly. It was torment to be so close to him, to sense him so clearly, but unable to see him. Gin's reiatsu was back; he didn't feel like a Togabito, anymore. But, it was weak. Ichigo imagined it would be for some time, after all Gin went through in Hell. Furthermore, the marking. It was...gone. But that could be easily rectified.

Being able to sense his mate's reiatsu was good. Calming.

Or _would_ have been if Ichigo wasn't a mess of anxiety.

 _Where the hell is Kisuke-san...?_

Undoubtedly, the former shop owner would probably know what was happening to him.

Exhaling deeply, he reached out with his senses to find the others. Solena was nearby, as were Kisuke, Kon, and Chad. Uryū and Nelliel were somewhere further away but still rather close, as were the other Vizard. It seemed to Ichigo that everyone was hovering nearby. Normally, they did that when something bad was happening, and normally that something bad was happening to _him_.

But, for the life of him, he couldn't come to any idea _why_ or _what_ that something bad was, if it was anything at all.

This time, there was a pain, a suffusing, ripping pain, in his chest. Leaning forward with a soft gasp, he clenched it. No...not his chest, per se. It was deeper. Much, much deeper...His...soul?

 _Zangetsu, what's going on...?_

Even after a few seconds, there wasn't an answer. This did nothing to ease his worries.

In fact, the feeling of dread abruptly rose within him. He moved from the bed, only to collapse to his knees as the world spun. He felt sick again, swaying side to side, and threw himself forward in time before violently throwing up. Whatever it was, it was thick and...black...

That was the last thing he remembered before there was nothing.

~:Edgr:E:~

The corner was surprisingly comfortable.

Dressed in a clean, white yukata, Gin sat on the floor. His eyes were slanted open by a bit, but he was tired. Despite this, he refused to fall asleep. Not yet. Not until he was certain he wasn't in Hell, anymore, and even then, it was a fool's hope. Hell put him through enough hallucinations over the past...however long it was, and he wasn't falling for them, anymore. But, it was better for him to go down fighting than not at all, when _it_ happened.

Regardless, it hurt.

This Kisuke kept trying to tell him over and over that he was no longer in Hell. As if he hadn't heard that a thousand times, believed it a thousand more. A fool's hope. Hell made him hold on to some resemblance of irritating, abnormal _hope_. It was painful, it was unfair, and it was beyond infuriating. Now, he wasn't sure whether it was Hell or his own coerced, tortured mind that made him hope he might—just might—see Ichigo, one day.

Ichigo...

The _real_ Ichigo, not some twisted perversion of him. Said perversion was persuasive. Several times. Said perversion had been gentle. Several times. Said perversion convinced him. Several times. Every time, it was a farce. The physical pain he experienced wasn't nearly as painful as the psychological agony of seeing the two he loved most, trusted most...hurting him with mocking smiles.

No once, not twice...

He couldn't count the amount of times he was tortured.

Against his will, he shuddered. But he had done a lot of things against his will, since the torture started. The unwanted pleasure. The unwanted tears. The unwanted hope. The unwanted beliefs...

He recalled the Ichigo that he attacked before he was dragged back into his cage. A wave of painful melancholy and yearning grew within him.

He wasn't sure if he could retain his sanity, this time. Not after seeing that hurt, that heartbreak, that appeared on this Ichigo's face.

 _Not again_...

His head snapped up as the door opened. The feeling of dread and bubbling hate rose within him before he even caught sight of the orange hair in the darkened room. He couldn't sense anyone's reiatsu. Of course, it would be Ichigo. Or rather, "Ichigo".

Tawny eyes turned to look at him, and his hackles raised. Slowly, he moved to his feet. As if he would just sit and let it happen.

"Gin."

The voice that spoke wasn't entirely Ichigo's. There was an unnatural sound to it, almost as if it was spoken with another undertone of a second voice that was entirely unfamiliar. Yet, not unfamiliar...

Taking his time, the hybrid stepped into the room. "It has been some time...How I have yearned to see you, again."

These words were met by a large, sinister smile, but Gin remained quiet. He was so distracted by Ichigo's presence, he didn't notice how the hybrid was speaking differently.

"Finally...I can end you." Coming into the dim light, Ichigo wore a noticeably, painfully calm expression.

Gin was confused by these words, but he didn't react to them. This was, admittedly, the first time the doppelgänger wanted to kill him, but it likely wasn't what it sounded like. He was just waiting for the Rangiku doppelgänger to appear, any moment, now.

The patient smile persisted. A finger pointed at him. "Traitor. Murderer. Blasphemer."

The shift in movement happened quickly, and though Gin caught it, he was unable to dodge in time. His neck was grabbed, and he was slammed against the wall. A somehow murderously calm face stared at him. "You pathetic thing. Shiō was devoured by a weakling like you? Laughable."

Going still, Gin's smile widened, despite his shock.

So. That's where this artifice was going, this time...?

Shiō. The name brought back so many memories...None of them good. All except, maybe, the last few before "normalcy" kicked in...and the name was erased from history books. He almost chuckled, but the squeezing around his neck prevented that. Despite this, he didn't fight. Hearing the name took all the fight out of him.

He then watched with morbid fascination as bloody tears began to form in the calm eyes. After wiping them away with a long claw, Ichigo moved his hand to let the other claws form on his free hand. When the claws began to swipe at him, Gin didn't so much as flinch, ready to take the attack.

But just centimeters from his face, the hand halted and trembled.

Frowning, Ichigo looked at it. "I see. The boy is incapable of injuring you, even in this condition...Perhaps there are other ways of giving you your just torment."

Gin was released, and he crumpled to the floor, coughing as he regained his breath.

"As you are aware, a Yōkai possession is fatal to its victim."

He looked up in time to see more tears of blood.

"You seem to care greatly for this boy; your torture in Hell is proof of this. I know not where the woman is, but this will do." The claws returned to their normal length and Ichigo wiped the tears away once more. "Hell will reclaim you. Until then, I shall take my time destroying you through this boy, Kurosaki Ichigo. I will drive him mad with agony, cause his mind to wither with insanity, and bring him to his knees with uncertainty."

Gin was becoming agitated. Unfortunately, this had never happened before, either. The "acting" the doppelgänger of the past did never involved being possessed by what had to be a Yōkai Mononoke of such a calibre. And this fact was grating on both his hopes and his fears. He was beginning to _hope_ this was all a ruse. _Please_ , let this be a ruse...

Abruptly, Ichigo seemed to jolt awake, blinking rapidly. His eyes unfocused for just a moment, flashing yellow, before focusing back on Gin. Then, they widened. "G...Gin...?" he breathed, his voice his own, again.

But, by then, Gin's smile returned to its full, sinister force.

Of course, it was a ruse. Damn those eyes...

 _He fell for it, again_.

"Gin..." Ichigo reached for him, his expression one of relief. Yearning. Joy.

Gin wasn't falling for _that_ , again.

Like a snake, his hand moved, slamming Ichigo in the chest. In mere seconds, Ichigo went from reaching for him just inches away to implanted in the back wall like he belonged there. The entire room shook from the force, and Gin watched with satisfaction as Ichigo spit up blood—but noticed only after the fact that it wasn't blood. It was too dark to be blood...

Then something happened that he almost expected.

Rage boiled over within the hybrid's expression, almost murderous. Yellow sparked in the depths of the tawny eyes, and in seconds, he reappeared before Gin. Grabbing him by his neck once more, he slammed him against the wall once, twice, thrice, then threw him to the ground like ragdoll.

As the energy Gin had summoned for the attack was all he had mustered since he "left Hell", he fell in a heap, his neck surely on the verge of breaking. He coughed for air, his breaths rattling, and looked up just in time for Ichigo to lower over him.

Against his will, the panic set in.

Hands. All he saw were hands. They reached for him, touched him, grabbed him, and he tried to smack them away. As always, they were too strong, far stronger than he was. In what felt like minutes but were actually seconds, he was pinned to the floor, and his lips were pursed tightly, his breathing increasing, as he dared to stare up defiantly into the glowing orbs.

Just as Ichigo began to speak, he abruptly disappeared after a flash of colors. This was just fine with Gin, and he scrambled away, back to what he sensed was reiatsu he just then noticed. It was Kisuke behind him, along with Chad and Uryū, but Hiyori, Shinji, Lisa, and Nelliel were on Ichigo, their blades against him as he was pinned to the wall.

"Gin-san!" Uryū called, but that only succeeded in making Gin's head snap back to look at him.

The movement hurt greatly, and Gin's head spun, but he refused to take his eyes off anyone, if he could help it. He moved back near the bed, and for the first time in many, _many_ years, he made a sound that was entirely inhuman:

He hissed.

 _Loudly_.

It took the onlookers by surprise, whereas voices were rising from where Ichigo was. There was something horrible about this situation Gin didn't like. It was too... _real_. But, undoubtedly, that couldn't be the real Ichigo.

The real Ichigo wouldn't hurt him.

Not unless...unless he was possessed by a Yōkai...

Dread fell to the pit of Gin's stomach, and he felt himself fading out. Kisuke was slowly approaching him, and he heard sounds of struggling mixed with angry voices from where Ichigo was. He wanted to look but didn't want to look. He could sense the yellow eyes staring at him, and it made him shudder. He hated these unwanted reactions, emotions...

He hissed harshly at Kisuke, and the man stopped approaching. He was unaware his breathing had dangerously increased, that he was gripping tightly against the bed that his fingers were straining. Instead, the world was beginning to fade out, becoming hazy and words were starting to garble.

Hell was doing this to him.

What else could it be...?

"Gin-san." Kisuke's voice was echoing. "We must get you out of here..."

~:Edgr:E:~

Shinji had his blade to Ichigo's throat. It prevented the possessed young man from moving too much, but he continued to growl and shout.

"Let me go!" Ichigo looked worried, confused, upset. "Let me talk to him, please!"

"You know we can't do that, Ichigo," Shinji said evenly. "You aren't yourself."

"What's happening...?" Ichigo's tense body was only tightening even more. "Why...?"

"You are possessed by a Yōkai." Shinji's gaze met his. The ocher eyes were wide, even more confused.

"Possessed by a—?" Abruptly, Ichigo shouted out with his eyes shutting, and he began to fight against his capturers, hell with the blood dripping from his neck and other parts of his body.

Shinji glanced back and saw Hachi, who was already readying a spell. All at once, the Vizard jumped back from Ichigo, and he flew towards them with blazing yellow eyes and fangs and claws, and it was horrifying—

Then, like a rock, he collapsed to the floor. Still and silent.

Tense and taken aback by what had occurred, everyone looked back at Hachi. The kidō master shook his head at them, indicating he hadn't done anything. Despite this, a green, octagon-shaped barrier appeared around the hybrid's prone body, sealing him inside.

The situation was then examined. It was hard to tell if Ichigo was even breathing, he was so still. An unconscious Gin was held up by Chad, who, like the others, didn't quite know how to react. Kisuke looked disturbed, but he was the first to recover.

"Yasutora-san, please take Gin-san into another room," he said calmly.

Chad nodded, then left with Uryū.

Sheathing their blades, the Vizard sighed quietly, almost collectively, and Nelliel merely stared somberly at her friend.

"Unfortunately..." Kisuke shook his head. "Unfortunately, the only one who can help in this situation is Gin-san. He knows the most about Yōkai.

Hiyori scoffed softly. "As if he's going to help, at this point..."

Nelliel turned around. "What, exactly, is the situation?"

Both Kisuke and Shinji glanced back at Ichigo.

"It is as I said it is," said Shinji. "Ichigo is possessed by a Yōkai Mononoke."

"Gin-san's torment has warped his mind to the point that he cannot tell if he is in Hell or not." Kisuke looked at them all. "Worse yet, I have news about what's happening in the Soul Society."

Everyone held their breath.

Kisuke closed his eyes and lowered his head. "The civil war is upon the Soul Society. It is only a matter of time before it is at our doorstep." He opened his eyes to look seriously at them all. "And this time, this isn't an approximation. It's _happening_."

~:Edgr:E:~

Once everyone was mostly sure Ichigo wasn't about to get up or move again, the barrier was lowered—with many swords and kidō at the ready—and then the unconscious hybrid was placed into a different room. It had a bed with straps, and said straps were enforced with kidō, but even that was likely to only hold Ichigo for a few moments, at most. So, the entire room was barriered. No one was to go in or out except a very few.

As he slept, Ichigo was not at ease. He tossed, groaning and muttering incoherently. His reiatsu was also unstable. Sometimes it was unreadable, other times, it was the dark, potent variant that was likely, had to be, because of his possession.

Then, Gin awoke.

It was the day after Ichigo arrived from Hell with him. Kisuke, who was otherwise the closest to him after Ichigo, stayed at the door in the room with him. Kisuke was unarmed, which, interestingly, did seem to ease Gin somewhat. He sat in his bed quietly, almost patiently, and was surprisingly responsive.

"Ya gonna tell me I ain't in Hell no more?" he asked quietly. "Don' bother."

Kisuke shook his head. "I won't bother. Rather, I am here to get straight to the point..." He closed his eyes. "Why did you go to Hell?"

Almost inaudibly, Gin scoffed. That was a question no hallucination asked, before. It didn't matter. There was no harm in explaining, and even less harm in bothering to. Fine...He would humor Hell.

"I...did somethin'. Somethin' real horrible..." Slowly, his eyes slightly opened. He raised his hand to look at it. "Ya know...I was real young when it happened. Originally, _she_ was called Shiō. She was...a Yōkai. Real powerful. Amazin', really. Somehow, she ended up with me. Nearly killed me, ya know. I dunno...what happened. One moment, I was okay. Then, I felt like I was dyin'. Was like I was bein' eaten from the inside out. All twisted inside...It was the first taste I ever had o' m'own, personal Hell.

"Yōkai are real confusin' entities. Most the time, they're nature-like spirits. Earthly-kinda things. Some, however, got sent ta Hell. S'mostly 'cause o' what I did. I was real young...So young. I dunno how I did it, either. Nothin' made much sense ta me...before I met her..." He seemed to be speaking to himself, lowering his hand to continue staring off. A small, sad smile formed on his lips. " _It_ was old. Real old. Dunno how I came ta it. It was a powerful ol' Yōkai. Godlike, if not one, itself. Prob'ly was. Think it was, actually. Yeah. It was...What's the name o' m'Bankai?"

"God-Killing Spear..." Kisuke trailed off, his voice lowering.

"Yea. I did that." Gin looked up to meet Kisuke's eyes. His sad smile turned nonchalant, then he lowered his gaze to stare at the sheets. "I killed a god."

He shifted, letting his words settle in. Kisuke, rightfully, didn't know how to react, so he didn't bother, waiting for Gin to continue.

"After that...I dunno. Things didn't make sense. Things calmed, I guess. I don' remember much else, 'cause I think I messed m'self up, 'r somethin'. Might'a been cursed. Prob'ly was." Gin shrugged. "I wandered. Met Rangiku. But ya know all 'bout that..."

In fact, Kisuke did know about that. Gin himself told him, over two years ago. But, in this case, Kisuke was certain Gin was referring to how Hell knew everything about him.

Reactively, Kisuke wanted to tell him he wasn't in Hell, anymore. But, at this point...words meant little, if anything at all.

The Yōkai within Ichigo really only exacerbated the situation...

As if aware he was thinking about Ichigo, Gin slightly raised his head. "This really is Hell..."

"Why do you say that, Gin-san?"

"Even if this ain't Hell...which it can't be...I ain't the same, no more. M'weak. M'tired. So tired..." When there wasn't a response, he reached up to trail over where his mark once was. "After I died 'n Hell...my body reset, somewhat. Unscarred. Unmarred. All gone. I can't tell Ichigo 'r the fake apart, no more...'cause I can't sense him. Gotta trust m'eyes. Funny, m'eyes got better, m'scars went 'way...but m'arm didn't come back..."

Kisuke took note that Gin sounded more and more lethargic as he continued droning on to himself. "Are you afraid of him, Gin-san?"

"Ichigo?" Gin sounded somewhat surprised. "I don' think so...Just o' what Hell got fer me. This...this fake Ichigo. I don' like 'im...Why would I..."

Kisuke risked asking, "What if I told you that not only is this Ichigo real, but he truly is possessed by a Yōkai?" There was a short silence. He watched as Gin teetered a bit, beginning to nod off. Just when he considered leaving the poor man in peace, Gin made a soft, weary and pained sigh.

Mismatched eyes became somewhat glassy. Gin was so tired... _so tired_ of the trickery of Hell. It was painful...So painful, cutting him deeper than Aizen's blade ever could.

But again...the false hope persisted.

He hated hoping.

But...if he _could_ freely hope...

His smile was sorrowful. "Then I'd say I did somethin' real bad ta Ichigo. If he ain't never hurt me, or meant ta do it...I...hurt 'im. An' I meant it." He made a soft, almost amused laugh, but in a humorless way. "In fact...I might as well've killed a part o' 'im."

"But you can still help him, Gin-san." Kisuke raised his head. "You know about more about Yōkai than anyone else."

Gin went quiet. Kisuke held on to some hope that the younger man was truly considering it.

But then, Gin made that same soft, barely audible scoff. "Nice try." He glared over at the scientist, his eyes tight slants. "I ain't helpin' 'im."


	9. Interlude III – Below the Influence

Ichigo writhed for hours in the bed. Intermittently, he groaned, panted, moaned, and shouted out with pain. But he didn't wake up. Within himself, he fought for his life. In the eyes of his companions, it was a fight he was losing.

They sat in a nearby room upon the floor with cushions and pillows. Many of them were standing. Solena was watching Ichigo, and the nurses were ordered to come to them if they even _thought_ something was happening to the hybrid.

The companions spoke openly about the situation, wondering what to do, next.

"If Gin isn't going to help, how do we go about this?" Kensei asked, standing against a wall with his arms crossed.

At first, no one said anything, too deeply in their thoughts and wracking their brains.

Rose shook his head, looking at Kisuke. "Is he really the only one who can help?"

"Yes. I believe for certain that he has had experience with Yōkai before. He heavily insinuated he was in a situation like Ichigo-san's, once, when he was very young."

"And he survived," Hachi hummed.

"Exactly." Kisuke shook his head with a sigh. "But getting the 'how' out of him is the challenge. As he still believes he's in Hell, he is waiting for his punishment to come forth. He refuses to say too much, in case it's just a ploy to get him to lower his guard."

Kon waved a hand. "Yeah, and what's with that? He killed a _god?_ "

The others softly murmured agreements.

"My guess is as good as yours, Kon-san. I am not familiar with Yōkai deities."

Nelliel frowned. "Would anyone be?"

"Yeah. Yōkai are supposed to be extinct, or something," said Mashirō.

"The Daireishokairō likely has at least a bit of information on them," Lisa said. "Not that it would help us.

"Yes," Kisuke agreed, his brows slightly furrowing. "With Yoruichi-san gone, getting into the Soul Society is difficult. Even more so, now, with the war…"

Love leaned forward on the floor, placing a hand underneath his chin. "What if…we could see into Ichigo' spirit? Try to manually remove the Yōkai from his soul?" He looked at Kisuke. "Is that possible?"

"Seeing into him, yes…But to remove something like that…"

"Can we give it a shot?" asked Shinji.

Kisuke slowly nodded. "I have a device that can peer into souls. It was last used to see into Gin-san and locate the Hōgyoku." He folded his arms, gazing at the floor. "Unfortunately, I believe only something like the Hōgyoku itself could stabilize Ichigo, as he is. In the end, in our situation, only Gin-san can aid us."

With that, they ended their impromptu meeting. Kisuke went to his small lab within the fortress while the others hovered near. Rose and Lisa went to make some food for everyone. Hachi, Shinji, Nelliel, and Chad were on immediate guard duty for Ichigo. Gin refused to leave his room, which was unusual. He normally hated being confined to one area…

But it was likely Hell changed that.

Kisuke returned shortly with the device. He entered Ichigo's room after Hachi lowered the barrier, then came to Ichigo's bedside.

He took a moment to look the writhing young man over. Ichigo was covered in sweat from his violent movement and strain, breathing heavily, rapidly, and his eyes screwed shut. There was no telling what was happening inside of him…but hopefully the device would give them some idea.

After so long, Kisuke had perfected the once cumbersome gadget. It was small, moderately handheld, still like an x-ray but lightweight, taking the form of a long screen attached to side handles with panels on them. He held it over Ichigo's body and pressed some buttons.

Much like an x-ray, at first it did show the goings-on within the hybrid's body. Kisuke couldn't be too wary. He moved it over Ichigo's chest, but there was nothing. He moved it over Ichigo's head, only to startle.

Something was moving within the hybrid's head, running along his brain like water, squeezing, caressing. It was…unnerving. Immediately, Kisuke switched the view to see within his soul, and it was worse. Throughout Ichigo's entire body was what looked like dark, pulsing veins spreading from his center. Like tree branches, they gently swayed, and some were fading, merging with his soul.

Lowering the device, Kisuke exhaled with a solemn expression.

This was far worse than he thought. No matter what, Gin had to be convinced this was real. There had to be some way, some _thing_ , that they had over Hell that Gin was never tortured with. If not Ichigo and Rangiku, then what? Who…?

Blinking, Kisuke had a sudden and jarring epiphany.

It was a slim chance, and he wasn't sure how it could help or if anything could be done, but he had to try.

There was nothing to lose.

Lowering the device, he returned to the door. Hachi saw him and lowered the barrier, and upon exiting, he said, "We may yet have one chance to convince Gin-san he is no longer in Hell." At the inquisitive, hopeful look given to him, he nodded. "Shinsō. Gin-san's wakizashi was with him when he was brought back. If there is some way I can revive Shinsō's spirit, she may be able to sway him, if not convince him fully."

"But is that possible?" Shinji asked. Despite his words, the cogs seemed to be moving in his head, and he, too, looked hopeful.

A strange expression overcame Kisuke's face. He moved from them and towards the infirmary's exit. "I will _make_ it possible. We have no other choice."

~:Edgr:E:~

As Kisuke boarded himself up in his lab, the others were informed of the new state of affairs. It didn't sound as radical as trying to remove the Yōkai from Ichigo's soul. Modifying zanpakutō wasn't unheard of. Mayuri, specifically, had been known for modifying his. And be it that Kisuke was also a scientific genius, if not in ways that Mayuri could have only dreamed of, there was a definite chance this could work.

Regardless, it was nerve-wracking.

From behind the barrier at the door to Ichigo's room, his friends watched him agonize. They could tell he was getting tired, as his expression had gone from furrowed brows, shouts and rapid movement to barely moving and only tossing ever so often. Even from a distance, they could see the perspiration on his skin. He was truly fighting for his life.

"This shouldn't have happened."

Nelliel, Chad and Uryū looked at Kon. The Mod-Soul rested an arm against the wall, looking pained and angry as he stared into the room.

"We should have done more to stop him."

Nelliel briefly closed her eyes. "There is no point in thinking about what should have or could have been, Kon. This is the present. We will do what we can for both of them."

While Kon seemed to understand that, he couldn't let it go. "Who the fuck goes to Hell willingly…? The moment those Togabito began to show up, we should've been on him like white on rice. But, no. We went about things too gingerly, too…too carelessly. We were so concerned about him harming one of us or hurting himself where we could see it that we didn't even consider if he was harming himself when we couldn't. And god knows what he may have done to himself, mentally, physically."

The others were quiet, but their expressions were changing as he vented.

"We failed him." Kon's hand balled into a fist. "We fucking failed him."

A lull of silence followed his words. Shinji and Hachi overheard the venting, and they, along with the other three friends, nodded in silent, somber and solemn agreement.

They should have done more.

They could have done more.

But, as Nelliel said, that was the past. All they could do now was look towards the future and try to prevent things from worsening.

~:Edgr:E:~

Another day passed, making it the third day since Ichigo and Gin returned from Hell. All was relatively quiet in the infirmary. A tentative peek into Gin's room showed the man had finally succumbed to sleep. He wasn't underneath the sheets but had fallen over from his cross-legged position and atop the pillow. His head was turned so he was facing the door, revealing a rather peaceful expression on his face. That was a hopefully good sign.

Ichigo, too, had somewhat quieted. He continued to breathe heavily but was only lightly tossing and wasn't truly making any noises. Whether _that_ was a good sign or not would be seen in due time.

But, as they were on a timer, the quiet would not last for long…

Gin was conscious. Not in the normal sense, but in the spiritual sense. He was all too aware of what was happening. Within himself, he merely existed, as his inner world had shattered long ago. The Hōgyoku and Hell had taken everything from him. Shinsō, Rangiku, Ichigo…He was left with nothing. Even the memories were tainted. What little of his spiritual sanity he held onto told him this was only Hell, that Hell had ruined good things for him, but it was difficult when his mind tried to sell the idea that everything, everyone, was against him.

He was so tired…

He wished the torment would happen, already. Waiting in itself was a different sort of torture, but it wasn't quite that. No, he didn't want to become complacent with his current predicament, where no one was hurting him, and everyone was kind. Everyone, except _him_ , of course. But…he was protected by them from _him_ …

No. This was torture. He wasn't out of Hell.

Couldn't be.

He didn't deserve it.

Within himself, he held his head. Why couldn't this illusion get it over with, already? Was that the ploy, because he was too aware _of_ a ploy? Well, it was working. Congratulations. He was starting to become confused, concerned, tired…He already fell asleep. His guard was completely down. They could do whatever they wanted to him, now.

And he just didn't care, anymore. In fact, he was looking forward to it. It was something familiar, routine. This…

This was painfully unfamiliar.

Kindness. Concern. He had forgotten what those words meant…

Love…

This was yet one more way Hell tortured him. It knew he could only resist for but so long, as always. He knew what was going to happen after he gave in. Yet...He was like a moth to the flame.

And he would burn horribly.

He distantly became aware of a presence in the room with him. This was it. He braced himself, but was surprised when, as he neared consciousness, he sensed Kisuke's reiatsu instead of Ichigo's. This was different…

Slowly, he stirred, then slanted his eyes open. The sandy-blond-haired scientist stood near, but far away enough that there was a good amount of space between them. A small smile was given to him.

"Gin-san. May I step closer?"

Expressionless, Gin took a moment to think about it. Then the mask went up, his lips spreading into a smile. "Sure." He sat upright and repositioned so he was back in his cross-legged posture.

Kisuke took a few steps closer, close enough that Gin could see the grey of his eyes. "Gin-san, I was wondering if you would mind if I examined you."

This _was_ different. Gin tilted his head to the side. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Just that. I would like to give you a checkup, of sorts."

"Why would ya wanna do that?"

"Why not? You've been in a…unique situation. I want to see if anything has been done to you or happened to you, spiritually."

Gin slightly shifted. His expression did not change. He hummed, glancing away. He didn't see why that would be a bad thing...Then he shrugged, as if it didn't matter, anyway. "Sure."

Nodding, Kisuke began to turn around. "You don't have to leave the room, if you don't want to." At the silence, Kisuke took that as the desire to stay in the room. "Very well. I'll be back."

Watching the scientist leave, Gin wondered. What could possibly happen he hadn't dealt with, already…?

It didn't take long for Kisuke to return, and he brought some things with him on a small cart. Two items were laying at the top and were covered with cloth. They seemed to be roughly as long as an arm. The others consisted of some tools Gin had seen before, as well as some that were entirely foreign. For a moment, he wondered if he was going to be physically tortured. Again.

Oh, well.

Patiently, he waited in the bed, watching the cart roll to the bedside. Kisuke seemed a little spry, a small smile on his face. But it wasn't sinister in any shape or form. Merely…excited. Eager. Hopeful.

...Okay.

"We can start with blood samples, if you like?"

"Don't care."

"Alright."

It was strange, to be touched again in a way that wasn't malicious. Kisuke handled his arm gently, with the precision of a caring doctor, as he drew blood. Through the touch, Gin was surprised to sense what seemed like legitimate concern from Kisuke.

This was so different, he was unsure how to react.

After drawing a few vials of blood, Kisuke looked at his eyes, down his throat. It brought back memories, ones that weren't tainted, of languid yet painful days in Lancashire. How long ago was that…? Years? Months? He wasn't certain, anymore. Outwardly, he smiled through the examinations. Inwardly, he was confused. What was all of this for if he was just going to be injured, again?

All that remained of his right arm was also examined. Briefly, once again, he was reminded of his time in Lancashire. Looking back on it, those were good days. Was this a way to calm him down? If so, it was working. But he was too exasperated by everything to care.

When everything was done, Kisuke moved back to the cart and lifted cloth from the first long item atop it. Gin's smile widened. It was his old prosthetic arm. He watched with interest as Kisuke wordlessly lifted it and began to attach it to him. Like before, the rod-like part of it went inside of his body, which was only slightly painful, and blood ran through it into the arm. After that, translucent wire-like attachments entered him, and the arm was pulled up, attaching it to him. He waited a moment after it was done, then moved all his fingers. They responded to his command.

Just for the hell of it, he hummed, raising it and looking it over. "A genuine miracle worker, Urahara."

Kisuke smiled at the recollection of those exact words said to him, once.

Tilting his head to the side, Gin lowered his arm. "Is it mine 'r are ya just usin' me as a guinea pig?"

"It is yours."

Humming again, Gin had to wonder. Why would he be given another arm? It just made him harder to pin down, subdue. "There ain't no catch?"

"None at all."

Naturally, Gin didn't believe him, but he said nothing about it. It was what it was, he supposed. Had to give some to get some.

Turning to the cart, Kisuke removed the cloth from the second item. Gin's smile faltered.

He knew that wakizashi from anywhere.

A blue hilt. An s-shaped guard.

 _Shinsō…_

Tense, he watched as Kisuke took the wakizashi and handed it to him. Slowly, but with purpose, he took the sword in hand. But the moment he touched it, he knew something was different. Something passed through him, like a tingle of electricity. He sensed… _life_ within the sword. It thrummed gently, almost lovingly, in his hand.

His smile was gone as he brought it closer, sensing a slight probing within himself. It was as if something was filling up inside, an emptiness he thought would never be filled again. He looked up at the scientist, his expression demanding for answers.

"If you are alive, your zanpakutō is, as well." Kisuke beckoned to the sword. "She was in some sort of stasis, I believe, an endless emptiness that left you both unable to sense the other. I figured that if you came back after dying in Hell, your zanpakutō might have also returned. It was a most unusual situation."

Gin breathed a bit unsteadily. He grasped his sword, closing his eyes. _Shinsō?_

A strong, feminine voice returned his call. " _Gin. Didn't I tell you I am always with you?_ "

A slight tremble passed through his body. He swallowed, then gently placed Shinsō in his lap.

He was numb with shock.

This couldn't be real.

" _Push aside your doubt, Gin._ " Shinsō spoke in her unusually calm, gentle tone. At least, for now. It would have made him smile with both relief and fondness.

Except...he couldn't. He couldn't believe any of this was real. It was only going to hurt him, in the end, and that wasn't even the scary part. _This_ was the part that he hated most.

How dare they.

His hands trembled, and he sensed Shinsō patiently allowing him to deny her. He didn't want to feel her inside of him, in his soul, doing goodness knew what to him in ways that he was hatefully terrified to think of.

He hated this.

 _All of it_.

His hands grasped tightly onto the sword, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't let go. Slowly, he felt what little bit of inner strength he fortified within himself withering to dust.

This was all a ploy. They wanted something from him. He knew this. That's the way it always was. What was it, this time? He already knew what it was like to have his organs taken out of him, already knew what it felt like to be violated, already knew what it was like to drown, already knew what it was like to have one's heart break so _thoroughly_ one would wish not to have one. What was next? Fire? Electricity? Gangrape?

Fine.

He'd play along.

 _Fine_...

His eyes slanted open, and he looked at Kisuke. The man was looking at him closely and seemed to find the opposite of whatever he was looking for, as his expression dropped to one oddly similar to that of remorse.

"Ya want me...ta help Ichigo, right?"

Kisuke slightly pursed his lips. "Yes, but—"

"That Yōkai within Ichigo...It's a guardian."

"A guardian—?" The moment the words left his mouth, Kisuke's eyes widened in realization.

Grasping tighter onto his sword, Gin closed his eyes again. "Yea." His body rose and fell from a deep, resigned sigh. "A Guardian o' Hell."

* * *

 **A/N:** I

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Ahh. Finally, the story is moving, again. For some reason, it felt as if things were a bit stagnant, there, even though I've been updating every week _despite_ school (yay, me!). At least, for now. Is anxiety still a problem? Yes. Yes, it is. But despite this, I managed to get through, last week, eh?

Anyway, I feel as though I've broken Ichigo and Gin. Things are just so messed up, right now. Ichigo is possessed with a creature that wants Gin dead, Gin is revealed to be not exactly a Shinigami, Shinsō is back...Gin's mind just shattered...Goodness, how is this going to end?

Well, if you're on AO3, you know how this could end, if you read the tags (which I'm sorry to say now, but they contain spoilers, obviously!). But if you're reading on , you're in for a surprise. Well, you all are, really...'cause This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think is one of my favorite tags~

This Interlude isn't exactly interesting, I know. I don't really have much to say. If there are any questions or wonderings, please feel free to comment them! I answer 99% to 100% of my reviews/comments! I love interacting with my readers! :)


	10. Pieces to a Shattered Soul (Redux)

Impossible

 _Impossible_.

The world was just as he remembered it, open twilight sky with horizontal tree trunks stretching out as far as he could see, massive canopies from smaller trees growing from out of the trunks...It was his inner world.

His sanctuary.

As he stood on one such trunk, Gin looked around, his eyes completely open and brows tightened from a mix of feelings he didn't understand. He had grown to hate emotion, hate sentiment. They were only shown because someone wanted something from him.

But this...

This was home, the truest home he ever knew, as no matter where he went, it was always there to welcome him. And ever since the Hōgyoku, he lost it. He never acted upon it, but it left him empty, inside. Empty _somewhere_ inside, but never able to tell just what that something was. He still didn't know, even now, after returning to his sanctuary.

His eyes scanned some trees. He could even sense _her_.

As if responding to his thought, a large form slid from out of the tree in front of him.

A feeling gripped at him. "Shinsō."

His zanpakutō spirit was beautiful. She was an enormous white serpent with long silver hairs along the sides and underside of her body. Over her red eyes were hornlike protrusions, and from between her hidden mouth, a black tongue slithered out, as if tasting the air.

"Greetings, Gin," she said, her feminine voice low and whispery. It was even softer than he knew she was capable of, likely from how she was aware of his mentality.

Because there was no way in Hell this was real.

His breathing increased from the moment he saw her. So many unwanted emotions flitted through him; he couldn't figure them all out. He scanned her for a moment, then his head fell as he looked away. "This isn't fair."

Shinsō lowered her head upon the trunk. "Hell cannot replicate your soul, Gin."

"An' how do ya know that?"

"It could not replicate the souls of your loved ones."

"Good help that was..." His eyes tightened as he remembered.

Even if Hell did not replicate Ichigo and Rangiku's souls, their appearances, their voices, and their words were bad enough. How many times did the Rangiku doppelganger ask him "innocently" where he was going when he escaped his cell? How many times did the Ichigo clone tell him "lovingly" that he was his? He never wanted to hear those words, again. Like everything else, they were tainted by Hell's influence.

The leviathan made a hum. "You are afraid. You fear the reality of this truth, of what it means if you accept it."

"Nah, I just don't wanna be hurt no more."

"And you will be hurt if you accept this reality. You have hurt Ichigo, in more ways than you understand."

He glared at her. "He hurt me first."

"You struck first, in Hell. And, here, in Hueco Mundo, that was not him."

He softly growled. "It _wasn't_ 'im. It'll never be 'im. I'll never see Ichigo, again, just stuck with these fakes that exist ta torment me..." He looked her over, again. "An' now, I gotta deal with ya, too?"

Unbothered by his words, she merely blinked. "Yes. You will have to deal with me. Because I am part of you, Gin."

"Ya can't be Shinsō," he hissed.

"Deny me all you want, Gin. I shall be with you, and always have been with you."

Her words struck a chord, and he tightly shut his eyes and shook his head. "Nah...I ain't believin' this..."

As if done with her, he turned around. His body was tense but wasn't trembling. He took a few paces forward and sat on the edge of the trunk. His legs rested upon the trunk's round side, and he stared at the sky below, detached and solemn.

Fine...

 _Fine._

He would help them with this "possessed" Ichigo fiasco. What did he have to lose...?

"Much, Gin. So much."

Again, his head shook, but he said nothing.

She came closer. "No matter what you do, Gin, I will be at your side. If you feel the need to attack Ichigo, I will not abandon you..."

Very human hands with red-tipped fingers slipped under his arms, cloth-covered arms wrapped gently around his chest. He tensed at first, until he realized that was only a reaction to the touch itself. Not because it was her. He quickly relaxed, even though he didn't want to, damn his body. Warmth pressed against his back, and his eyes closed.

Companionable silence passed between them. As he rested, he recalled the day he first opened his eyes in his inner world and saw her. He had been in awe, delight. So soon, his Asauchi shaped into his zanpakutō. So soon, he obtained his Shikai. In a moment of joy and evanescent childishness, he played with her in his inner world, learning things as he went along. Learning about himself. Learning about her.

It had been wonderful. He would never forget...

At least that much hadn't been tainted.

"Shinsō..." He took a deep breath. "I can't."

"I understand, Gin. You know I do."

And he did.

Admittedly, this never happened before. Shinsō never manifested in Hell. The way he was reacting now was only out of self-preservation, fear of the unknown, what it all could mean. He was unsure which was more frightening: Having Shinsō finally appearing in Hell to be one of his tormentors or truly being free of Hell. But, admittedly...his soul never sang to him like this, before, either.

Not in Hell.

Never in Hell.

What did it all mean...?

He softly sighed, his head lowering even further. For now... _For now_...he would allow this. If he so much as suspected something was off, he was going to sever the connection between himself and Shinsō.

The hands around him didn't even flinch from his thoughts.

Of course not. Shinsō was strong...

But not him. No, he was been broken epair...and he knew it.

His lips parted. He wanted to thank her for being there. Admittedly, he felt better than he did, before. He wasn't going to be completely alone, even in this hallucination. At least...for now.

"You're welcome, Gin," she softly chuckled.

He closed his mouth, his lips twitching.

He was going to miss this.

~:Edgr:E:~

Slowly, he opened his eyes into slants. He was still in the infirmary room, alone. Kisuke had returned to Ichigo's room after he was told what was inside of the hybrid. Then, Gin performed jinzen.

From what he could sense, Shinji, Kisuke and Solena were inside of what he suspected was Ichigo's room; the hybrid's reiatsu couldn't be sensed, at the moment. It went back and forth like that.

Beside him, someone placed neatly folded clothes for him to wear instead of the yukata. They were white and black, of course. He didn't mind, and didn't have the _mind_ to, anyway. There was an area in the upper right corner of the room where a bathroom was located. He slipped down from the bed and brought his wakizashi and the clothes with him before entering it.

Despite being clean, he took what he felt was a much-needed shower. The warm water felt heavenly, beating upon his skin like acupuncture needles in all the right places. His neck, in particular, needed the massage after...what happened with Ichigo, but he didn't think too deeply about it. It just felt good.

Afterwards, he dried and put on the clothes. They were nothing very special, just an interesting pair of somewhat bellowing black pants that were nothing like hakama, as they were tight to the skin at the ends of the pants leg, black socks and boots, a white belt, and a black, fitted shirt with long sleeves. So, they gave him mostly the black clothes, it seemed. He probably stood out and wondered if that was for a reason. Then again, Ichigo wore all black except his white coat, which he wasn't wearing the last time Gin saw him...

What did it matter, anyway?

Exiting the room with his wakizashi at his hip, Gin was greeted by the sight of Nelliel, Chad and Uryū, who were looking into what Gin guessed what Ichigo's room. It was heavily barriered by Hachi, who stood nearby, so it couldn't be anyone else's. His usual smile upon his face, Gin neared them. They turned partially to him.

"Gin-san," Uryū greeted with a nod. "Good to see you up."

Chad also nodded at him, whereas Nelliel smiled a bit, but it was a small one.

"Ya could've gone fer years and wouldn't miss me," Gin remarked, peering past them into the room. "So, what's goin' on?"

From what he could see and hear, Kisuke and Shinji were talking to Ichigo, who had regained some form of consciousness. Going by sound, it was Ichigo talking, for now. Before the hazy, bloodshot eyes could look into his direction, Gin leaned back so he was unseen.

There were frowns at his jibe, but Uryū answered with a sigh. "We think the Yōkai is playing with us."

Gin hummed. "Yōkai can be real playful, yea."

"Well, this one keeps letting us think Ichigo is overpowering it, only to lash out. It's happened three times, already. And it's annoying."

"I imagine it ain't said 'r done nothin' more than that?"

"Nothing more." Nelliel crossed her arms. "Nothing more that we can see."

Gin idly walked around the space, looking around. "Any idea what sorta Yōkai we're dealin' with?"

There was a brief silence from confusion. "A...Mononoke?" Chad responded.

"Yea, but there're types o' Yōkai just as there're types o' Mononoke." He smiled back at them. "So, what kinda Yōkai?"

"We don't know," said Uryū, "but Ichigo has had talon-like claws, if that helps."

Gin recalled the claws he saw. They were a bit bird-like. "Some kinda avian Yōkai, then, maybe..." His brows furrowed a bit, then he relaxed. What were the odds... "I ain't too keen o' 'em."

He saw the question on the tips of his acquaintances' tongues but didn't bother to answer. They didn't need to know.

Turning to face them, he tucked a hand into his pocket. "I only got one such Yōkai 'n mind: a Tengu. Wouldn't be surprised if that's what we're dealin' with. Tengu are known for possessin' people.

Both Chad and Uryū looked confused. "What was a Tengu doing in Hell?" Uryū asked.

"Some Yōkai got outcasted ta Hell. Dunno why."

The Quincy, Fullbringer and Arrancar glanced at one another.

"So, how do we deal with this?" Nelliel asked, looking back at Gin.

He looked away in thought, humming softly. An exorcism or anything of the sort would normally be needed but this was a particularly unique situation. A Hell-based Yōkai-Tengu-Mononoke that was furthermore a Guardian of Hell. It couldn't get any more complicated than that. It was no wonder Ichigo was suffering so badly...It was a miracle the hybrid wasn't dead, already.

Gin was pleased when the thought didn't garner an internal reaction, then focused back on the situation.

Then, there was always forcibly removing the entity from Ichigo's body, but the possession had gone on for several hours, almost three days, now. He had the ability to do such a thing, removing a Yōkai from a possessed body, but in Ichigo's condition, it could easily kill him.

Wasn't his problem, if that happened. He was doing what they wanted. And he was morbidly curious as to where this particular illusion was going.

His mind made up, he looked back at them. "I can remove it from 'im."

Relieved expressions formed on their faces. "How?" Nelliel asked.

"I got the power ta do it. We shouldn't do it 'ere, though. Might get a lil' messy." Gin focused behind them as Kisuke and Shinji exited from the room.

The three friends turned to the scientist, whose expression was clouded with solemnity. Without even waiting for a question, Kisuke shook his head. "What little bit of Ichigo-san came through was delirious," he said softly. "I am certain he cannot hold out for much longer."

As sounds of sadness and concern were made, Gin's smile widened. "I'm gonna take that thing outta 'im, but we gotta get ta an open space. Things're prob'ly gonna get messy."

"Messy how?" Shinji asked.

Gin's smile grew even more, causing Kisuke to narrow his eyes. The sly man nonchalantly waved a hand. "Oh, the entity inside o' 'im just might come out ta play, o'course."

The idea of meeting a Yōkai didn't seem to go over well to them, and Gin was amused by their various expressions.

Again...that wasn't his problem.

Patiently, he stood, one hand resting innocently on the head of his sword, the other still in a pocket.

Kisuke observed him, but his expression was an impressive mask. This was possibly quite dangerous if Gin had any sort of ulterior motive. It was obvious that, after seeing Gin's reaction to getting Shinsō back, he still didn't fully believe he was no longer in Hell. Maybe he needed some sort of "test". And god help them if the test involved someone getting hurt.

"Very well," Kisuke said with a slight exhale. He nodded at Hachi, who lowered the barrier again. "We will take him out to the desert."

* * *

There was no time to waste, so they very shortly arrived some distance in the sands of Hueco Mundo. Many had gathered for this, even Tier and Sung-Sun. The Arrancar Queen was very interested in this development. Eyes observed with varying degrees of curiosity and agitation as they watched one of the most powerful creatures they knew writhe in pain, his reiatsu frightening and unknown to them. As if it wasn't uncanny enough, already.

They had taken the safest and most effective route to end up where they were, out in the middle of nowhere: A portal. Ichigo was transported via a barrier, of course, as there was no telling when the entity inside of him would lash out. Interestingly, ever since they decided to do this, Ichigo's thrashing had increased in intensity and desperation. It seemed the Yōkai had an idea of what they were going to do.

Since the ordeal began two days ago, Ichigo had become considerably sickly. His skin was greyish, with his veins noticeably risen underneath his skin. They visibly pulsed, as if fighting as hard as he was to pump blood through his body. He had also begun to change. His hands remained clawlike, black in color and his fingers were almost constantly bent, giving them an even more talon-like appearance, and violet markings were all over his body. When his eyes did open, often briefly, they were either rolled back into his head or an empty stare, yellow irises with very wide pupils.

It was a disturbing sight to anyone.

He was placed on the sand quite some distance away from everyone. His audience had their weapons at the ready, just in case. After Hachi placed him down, Gin stood almost directly at his side. The Vizard then went back some several feet away and lowered the barrier.

And to everyone's surprise, there was an immediate reaction.

A shrill, inhuman shriek emitted from Ichigo's mouth, his back arched painfully. From his rolled-back eyes, black liquid dripped down the sides of his face. After just a few seconds, the cry tapered off, devolving into a weak groan that rattled in throat. Finally, he made a soft sound, his head tilting to the side. His body rose from the sand, like a puppet pulled up by its chest.

In moments, he was on his feet, hunched over and arms limp at his sides. In a wink, Ichigo went from staring at Gin with teary ocher eyes to, after a yellow glow, yellow eyes. The Yōkai straightened out, standing straight, and gave Gin a calm smile.

There was no exchanging of words, not even a staredown. Not a second after the smile formed, Gin flashed his own. In the next, the two clashed, wakizashi against long claws. The sand blew up from the force of the blow, forcing the onlookers to shield their eyes as they were nearly completely covered by it.

The other clawed hand swiped at Gin, and he dodged in time, skidding back and kicking up more dust. In that moment, he spun around, going into a familiar stance with his arm held back. "Shoot ta kill—" He thrusted his hand forward. "—Shinsō!"

The Yōkai dodged, then brought its claws down as if to cut the sword in half. Not having that, Gin moved the blade out of the way, pulling it away and slicing right to cut the Yōkai's head. It made an impressive last-minute bend backwards, and the blade swung right above it. Bending upright, it threw a literal ball of wind towards him at high speed, and he retracted his blade while spinning out of the way with a second to spare.

Now, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold out long against the Yōkai. Not in his current weak condition; well, weaker. He had grown a considerably stronger over the past two days. Just another ploy to make him think he had left Hell, no doubt.

At the reminder, his smile turned sinister, and his eyes flashed white. After this, to his surprise, he felt the returning call of entities he thought he would never see again.

Several large snakes appeared from thin air and wound around the Yōkai, pulling it back. Surprised, it was momentarily distracted by the unexpectedly power behind the snakes' pull. Its arms were pulled away from Gin's sword, and it watched in awe. Despite his own shock, Gin didn't hesitate to form a symbol in the air, which caused the Yōkai to go stiff. He then struck, plunging his sword into the Yōkai's chest and holding it in place with a single hand.

The Yōkai didn't even respond to the attack, only wincing when Gin placed his free hand over its chest, curled his fingers, and began to _pull_. As he did, more snakes appeared, covering the Yōkai completely by wrapping around it to keep it in place. The Yōkai finally made a sound, grunting and shutting its eyes.

Gin felt within Ichigo's soul. It was horrendously chaotic, with three beings fighting inside: Ichigo, his zanpakutō spirits, and the Yōkai. Ichigo was overwhelmed, nearly crushed, by fatigue. It was truly a miracle he was alive. As Gin's own soul made a connection to Ichigo's, he felt the hybrid reach out to him, so much he could see it clearly in his mind.

 _"Gin..."_

He gasped at the sound of Ichigo's voice reverberating inside of him. There was so much pain, yearning, fragility, and heartache in that single call.

It was unexpected.

The Yōkai cried out, and Gin watched his Shikigami rip away as, of all things, black wings dripping with blackness appeared from behind it. Gin was again shaken by the sound of Ichigo's harrowing scream, which only became faint as power forced him away, severing their connection.

He skidded back, panting as he stared at the Yōkai, his face devoid of a smile.

That was...

He didn't like that.

It was too real. Too...

He shook off his unwanted emotions and twirled Shinsō in his hand. At the last moment, he managed to pull her off. And for good reason; the Yōkai went into the sky, its wings kicking up a miniature dust storm. Shielding his eyes a bit, Gin's smile grew wide.

It was a battle of the elements, eh? Well, he could _easily_ play that game.

He raised his hand to the sky, out at his side and fingers curled up, as if calling something forth.

Before the eyes of the onlookers, and to their immense shock and awe, the heavens darkened with rapidly forming black clouds. The potent smell of rain permeated the air.

Tier, whose arms had been crossed, slowly lowered them. "Impossible..." she breathed.

But, oh, it was happening. Immediately, a heavy, monsoon-like rain drenched the surrounding area, bursting from the clouds as if from a shower head. No one was spared, and it became unbelievably difficult to see in a matter of short seconds. All that was clearly visible was the lightning in the sky, so close and personal, they could make out every outline of the white flashes.

Every one of them startled or jumped from a crackling, cackling boom of thunder, a sound so abnormal to hear in the normally quiet world. Intermittent, powerful gusts of wind nearly blew them away. There was nothing to grasp onto, and so they all unanimously flew back a safer distance. They were safer from the gusts, but not from the other high winds or the rain.

"What the hell kind of power is this?!" Kon shouted above the whooshing air. "Kisuke!?"

The scientist only shielded his face with an arm, staring into the concentrated area of the storm.

Lights flashed within the storm's center. Yellow, maroon, white and red. From Gin's side, the attacks were white and red. From the Yōaki's side, they were yellow and maroon. Through the chaos, it was impossible to see what attacks were being used. It was a wonder: Was that done on purpose...?

A particularly bright flash of lightning nearly blinded them, and an echoing shriek cried out as something was hit, causing their eyes to widen.

Back in the storm, Gin wasted no time to approach the downed, electrocuted Yōkai, his Shikigami once more curling around it and even its injured wings. The sand had become white mud, and it was hard to gain footing, but he used shunpo above it. Immediately, he came to the Yōkai's side and once more plunged his sword into it. He placed his other hand on its chest and _pulled_.

The Yōkai grimaced and groaned, thrashing as best as it could in the snakes' hold. "You...will not...!" It was interrupted by a scream.

"Gin..."

Gin stared into bleary tawny eyes, and black tears once more streamed own Ichigo's face.

Ichigo arched, his hair, already muddy, becoming even dirtier. "GET IT OUT!" he shrieked, clawed hands curled, causing blood to trail from his palm into the mud.

Not a moment later, the Yōkai took over, blazing yellow eyes causing Gin to flinch. "Murderer...!" it shouted above the roaring wind. "I will kill him!"

In a knee-jerk reaction, Gin growled, "Nah...ya won't."

A blackness began to pull from Ichigo's body where Gin's hand was. He continued pulling, even as Ichigo intermittently screamed in pain. Removing his hand from Shinsō's hilt, he used his other hand to pull, his hands curled with effort. "Fight, Ichigo!" he ordered. "Keep fightin'!"

A wretched scream was the response.

Growling, Gin's eyes snapped open, revealing vertically slanted pupils. The blackness had stretched considerably from Ichigo's body, but he felt it squirming against him, trying to go back. With his prosthetic hand, he grabbed the middle part and gave a powerful yank.

It yielded at last, and he threw the entity behind him. It streamed from Ichigo's body, and the hybrid undulated, the blackness turning into clear tears from his eyes as he stared at the sky. His limp body began to convulse.

Gin called off the storm, panting while looking down at him. Steadily, the rain receded, becoming a light drizzle. The rumbling thunder devolved into soft grumbles, and the lightning was soundless. The wind died down almost instantly. All he did was look Ichigo over, making sure he was relatively alive, and he was. Relatively. Ichigo choked, spitting up remnants of the blackness, so Gin turned him onto his side.

He dodged out of the way, pulling Ichigo with him, when a large blade of wind split the sand apart where he had been seconds ago. The smile hadn't returned to his face, even as he looked upon the Tengu for the first time.

The being was tall, dressed in dark clothes Gin had only seen on old documents during his time with Aizen. It appeared male, his hair black and rather shaggy, reaching his neck, with two bangs crossing over his nose bridge. Violet markings adorned his skin in a pattern that gave him lines underneath his eyes jutting from more running up the sides of his face. He said nothing, but his yellow eyes narrowed at Gin. He, too, was panting, but even harder.

Gin placed Ichigo back onto his side on the sand, then stood with his eyes slanted once more. He beckoned to the hybrid with his head. His smile returned. "Ya know, I've been wonderin' a few things...like why ya possessed Ichigo ta begin with."

"To make you suffer, of course," the Yōkai spat. "You killed a deity of the Yōkai. No other was willing to go after you, for reasons I will never understand."

Gin gave a shrug. "Well, sorry, 'cause I really don't remember any o' that."

"That means nothing."

Walking to slowly to the side, Gin ignored him. "Second thing I'm wonderin' is...why ain't ya been killin' me when ya had the chance."

It narrowed its eyes, as if it had been caught.

"It's 'cause ya can't bear killin' the last bit o' _her_ , right?"

The bright eyes flashed angrily. "Don't you dare say her name."

"Alright, alright." He held up his hands innocently. It was fun to play around in this illusion. He might as well take advantage of it. "But, ya know...yer right. She's still 'n me, existin' in happiness, I assure ya."

A tic formed in the Yōkai's forehead. Clearly, it was tired of hearing Gin speak.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gin spotted Kisuke and Hachi come to Ichigo's side before disappearing with him in shunpo. Good.

No, wait...

Not good. The hallucination was starting to get to him...

Recalling the words he said to Ichigo, his smile widened to hide his desire to scowl. "So, what're ya gonna do now? 'Cause m'more than willin' ta take ya on fer real. Gimme some fun before all goes ta Hell."

A smile formed on the Yōkai's face. "Yes. To Hell, with you."

It raised a clawed hand much in the way Gin had to summon the storm. This made Gin's mouth twitch, then he watched with growing realization as the wind picked up again, spiraling to a single spot high in the sky. Said heavens flashed from green to black and back...and a dark, abnormal energy flooded the world.

Gin made a small, resigned smile as he watched the familiar structure emerge from the sky.

Well. The Yōkai _was_ a Guardian of Hell, after all.

The Gates of Hell appeared in the sky.

Gin showed no outward display of fear as he stared upon the Gates. He did, however, notice that the Yōkai coughed, lowering to one knee. He looked at the Tengu to see him cough once more into a hand. He was injured...? Had Ichigo managed to hurt it, after all?

Yellow eyes glared over at him. "I _will_ take you with me..."

A familiar rattling cause Gin's head to snap back up just as the Gates opened, revealing the large crossed chains before a vortex of red.

It wasn't the first time he was dragged into Hell in an illusion.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes. It was nice while it lasted, if he was being honest with himself. No one hurt him, really. People were kind to him...Shinsō came back. If he was to be tormented again, he hoped more illusions were like this one.

Answering his thoughts, there was a familiar, comforting thrum within his soul. He managed a small smile.

The rattling came closer...and closer...and closer...

"NO!"

Abruptly, the chains stopped at the command of the hoarse, pained shout. Gin opened his eyes to see the chains just inches from him, but they had frozen in the air. How...? He glanced at the Yōkai, but it was staring at something to Gin's right with wide eyes. He looked over to see what was happening.

Everyone was staring at Ichigo, whose afflicted eyes were also wide as he stared at his outstretched, trembling hand. "Wh...what...?"

Gin frowned. What was going on...?

This was different.

He wasn't sure he liked where this was going...

There was a soft, defeated chuckle, bringing his attention back to the Yōkai.

He looked from Ichigo to Gin and back. "So...that is how this will end..." His body began to disappear into what looked like black dust, and he looked up at the Gates.

The chains receded, to Gin's shock. They returned into the vortex, and the Gates slowly closed. Everyone watched in confused, amazed awe. In moments, the Gates were gone. The sky returned to normal. The wind died down. Dust began to settle.

All went silent.

The Yōkai was gone.

* * *

 **A/N:** A few things.

1) I know. I know. The fight scene between Gin and the Yōkai isn't at all very interesting. It will be that way...for now. Maybe the Remix will have a better scene, because my excuses don't make sense to me, either. For now, just take it as the Yōkai in a weakened state (as he obviously was) because of the ass-kicking Ichigo gave him, despite overpowering the hybrid. Ichigo don't go down easily, man.

So.

Yeah.

Excuses! *Throws pixie dust*

2) Guess who finished _Endure?_ THIS GUY~! Aw, yeah! So this means I can upload every day or every other day; or just depends on how I feel, I guess. I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't WAIT for you all to read the ending! It's so...GOOD!


	11. When the Moon Don't Shine

Ichigo's inhales were painfully wheezy, his breathing laborious. He was held up into a sitting position by Chad, and he only lowered his hand once he was sure the chains weren't coming back. His eyes remained fixated on Gin, who stood at a great distance away, his body still and head lowered.

"G...Gin..." Ichigo shut his eyes from a ripping pain inside his body, and blood dribbled past his lips. His soul...his body...He felt tattered and unbelievably frail.

Voices were speaking. To him, to others. He blocked it all out but forced his eyes open in time to see Gin approaching.

"Gin...?" He tried with all his might to stand, but collapsed to the sand again, on his knees. He nearly keeled over but was caught. More voices, urgent. Somber. Solemn. Cautious. Worried...

He didn't care. He just wanted Gin, to feel Gin, again. While he was possessed, when he was struck by Shinsō, he felt him. Their souls connected, just for a few moments. Gin was tortured inside, just as broken as he was, if not more. They needed each other. If only...if only he could _hold_ him again...

Gin came closer. Ichigo felt the scrutinizing gaze. It was hard, cold. But he understood. Somewhat. He hoped. Swallowing blood, he reached out, his hand trembling.

The man looked down at him, and everyone held their breaths. Gin's face was devoid of a smile. For a good few seconds, he observed the hybrid. Then the corner of his mouth twitched downwards.

He walked away.

"Gin!" Kon called angrily, but the man was gone in a burst of shunpo.

Ichigo watched after Gin, his hand falling into his lap. He tried to brush it off, tried to say it was just the way it was, or _something_. But he couldn't. Instead, he felt his heart, fighting so hard to stay whole, shatter.

Gin didn't want him, anymore.

Slowly, he fell over. The last thing he heard were garbled, alarmed voices.

Darkness overcame him.

He welcomed it gladly.

* * *

The group quickly returned to Las Noches using another portal. Everyone was shaken, in some way or another. Shaken with awe. Shaken with anxiety. Shaken with fear. Shaken with anger. Shaken with sorrow.

Their immediate focus was on Ichigo. _All_ their attention was on Ichigo. He was muddy, bleeding from his chest, eyes, mouth, nose, even his ears. There was blackness as well as normal red blood. Initially, he seemed somewhat conscious. His breathing was slowing down, but he was staring off between slightly slanted eyes. By the time he was cleaned and placed into a bed, however...he was entirely unresponsive.

And he wasn't breathing.

They couldn't get him to start breathing on his own. Not even by a little bit. It was as if his body shut down.

And he was asleep. Deeply, deeply asleep.

They couldn't get him to respond to any sort of stimuli. Not even by a little bit. It was as if he was in a trauma-induced coma.

And, well...he was.

With no other choice, he was placed on a ventilator. But no one was taking this development easily.

Kisuke exited Ichigo's room with Solena, who gave those who had gathered nearby a solemn expression before returning to another room. He sighed, his head lowered.

"His soul is...in wretched condition," he announced. "How he's still alive is likely through sheer will. Or...what was will..." He said the last part a bit quietly.

His words didn't have to be said aloud. The others were thinking that, too.

"His high-speed regeneration is not active. He's healing the old-fashioned way. Tessai-san is still healing him, now. Despite this..." Kisuke glanced back into the room. "Despite this, it would seem...Ichigo-san lost the will to live."

The silence was crushing.

"Because of Gin," said Lisa, "or because of the damage to his soul?"

Kisuke didn't bat around the bush. "If I had to guess...I would say both."

"Because of _Gin?_ " Hiyori scoffed. "That's stupid."

"They were mates," Nelliel said in the hybrid's defense.

"And it's his soul, too. Not just Gin." Kon lowered his head, his arms crossed.

Hiyori waved a hand dismissively. "It's bullshit. Totally out of character for Ichigo."

"Out of character?" Kon glared at her, lowering his hands. He then looked at them all. "We're questioning something we already know?"

"Just think about how Ichigo has been these past nine months," Uryū said, looking away. "No matter how 'abnormal' it may seem to _us_ , that's the reality, for him."

Chad solemnly nodded. "He loves Gin," he said softly. "In the world of the living, we're familiar with the concept of losing the will to live after profound heartbreak or loss."

While the others seemed to agree with soft sounds of understanding or relenting, Hiyori shook her head. "This...is so fucking stupid."

"Believe what you want," said Kon. He re-crossed his arms and looked into Ichigo's room. Tessai was by the hybrid's bedside, healing him. "He was also almost entirely taken over by a Yōkai. He...probably put up a fight that took everything out of him." He said that, but didn't sound happy about it, and didn't have to.

"Where the fuck did Gin go?" Kensei asked, moving from against the wall.

Shinji gave him a withered look. "First, no one knows, and second, what, exactly, do you plan on doing after finding him? We seriously can't blame Gin for what he did any more than we can blame Ichigo, now." He looked at everyone with a grave expression. "He was _tortured_. In _Hell_. Do we know fucking anything about Hell? Barely! Nothing that can tell us exactly what even _may_ have happened to Gin any more than what we can figure out! And I think by now you all have some idea of one thing that might have happened."

Heads lowered, some looked away uncomfortably.

"Yeah. I thought so."

A brief silence prevailed between them. Kisuke broke it with a sigh. "Gin-san is likely far from here. I imagine he's in the living world."

"Tell us you have a tracker on him, too," said Lisa.

Kisuke made a very small smile. That answered everyone's question, and exhales of relief were made.

"So, where is he?" Shinji asked.

"I do not know."

"Aaand...why's that?"

"I'm giving him his privacy. He obviously needs it." Kisuke placed both hands on his cane. "He will either return on his own in due time, or, if _necessary_...we will find him. But as things are, now, it is not necessary."

"Yeah, 'cause him being the cause of Ichigo going into a fucking _coma_ doesn't make this a necessity," Hiyori said sarcastically.

"It doesn't." A pause. "Not yet. Until then, we should get ourselves ready."

Aware of what he was talking about, the group nodded, murmured or said their agreements before steadily dispersing. Ichigo's friends lingered. It was difficult to see a man so powerful in an infirmary bed, an IV in his arm, wires over his chest, and breathing with the help of a ventilator.

Love was as dangerous as it was powerful...

Eventually, even they left. They had to prepare themselves. Tessai was the last to leave, done with Ichigo's physical and internal healing. His spiritual healing...That was the part that needed the most help. But no one could aid him.

So, Ichigo was left alone in the room, with only the nurses and doctor there to oversee him.

~:Edgr:E:~

The mindscape was once more a sunken, small town. Years seemed to have passed within, as the structures were broken, withered, weather-worn, and destroyed. The streets had deteriorated, the sky black and starless. This time, there were no screams. There were no mindless sobs of pain, no sounds of destruction as houses were destroyed in a rage. All was eerily, uncannily quiet.

Ichigo's curled-up form laid in the street. His long orange hair was splayed out, his eyes were closed, and bubbles of air leaving his nose rose upwards every long minute or so. Liquid from his eyes only merged with the water, leaving behind not a trace of his sorrow.

All was still.

Just as he wanted it.

Gin was afraid of him. Gin hated him. Gin didn't want him, anymore. The man stared impassively, coldly, at him. It was an understandable hate that he held towards Ichigo, but it never should have been turned on him.

No.

Not him.

He felt heavy. His body...It refused to move. His eyelids felt sewn shut. His breathing wasn't strained. Rather, it was so soft, he was barely breathing at all. His heartbeat...It beat painfully slow.

Was this what it felt like to die...?

As his soul tried to heal, he didn't make an effort to aid it. He couldn't summon the willpower to. Every now and then, through his natural healing, a house came back together, a part of a street returned to flat concrete.

But the hole left within him from where the Yōkai was removed would take a long time to heal.

"King."

A white figure appeared beside him.

He remained entirely unresponsive.

"You can't give up like this, King."

More tears disappeared into the water.

"It hurts. It hurts more than any other physical pain possible. Your soul...It's screamin'. It's been screamin' ever since _he_ was dragged to Hell. And just when you began to grasp onto some hope, it was ripped from you.

"I know. I know more than anyone else ever will. The old man, too. He hates seein' you like this, King. It's so painful. But you can't give up, King. _He's_ not the only one in your life you care about. Are you gonna give up on _them_ because of _him?_ "

For the longest time, nothing happened. Ichigo didn't move, and he didn't seem to breathe, either. It was like the longest held breath...

...and then, a slow exhale.

Another house was repaired.

Slowly, the tawny eyes slanted open. They stared forward at nothing. Empty. Dead.

But it was something.

"That's right, King. There are so many more reasons for you to live. Your friends. They're like your brothers, King. They've been in their own pain, feelin' useless 'cause they don't know how to help you. The others, too; all twelve of them. Are you gonna give up on them?"

The dead orbs widened just a bit more. Tears continued to fall, but for a different reason.

More of the street around him steadily smoothened.

To be fair, Ichigo never really considered his friends, very much. What he did think of them was very apathetic and self-centered. They saw _him_ and a burden. They saw _him_ as a nuisance. They saw _him_ as a loose cannon. _He_ was trying to make things easy for them by staying away, locking himself up.

Now that his thoughts had nowhere to go and that he finally had time to consider them...

He felt...ashamed.

"And then, most importantly...your family, King. Your dad. Your sisters."

Briefly, the tawny eyes closed. When they opened again, some life had returned to them.

His family.

How he missed them.

He tried not to think about them. It only brought him a profound sadness. How quickly did he go from being with his sisters to being so distant from them? A matter of days? No...

 _Hours_.

Mere _hours_.

He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

And his father...

"You're gonna do that to them? Dying on them _willingly?_ "

The tears continued, and his eyes closed.

"Aren't they enough of a reason to keep goin'?"

The second longest moment passed. More houses began to repair themselves. It was slow, gradual, but it was happening.

The world was still and silent for what felt like forever. Time passed painfully slow.

After what seemed like long, silent weeks of nothing, the still body steadily rose and fell in a deep exhale.

He couldn't stay like this.

Slowly, Ichigo sat up. It was with difficulty, as if his body was heavy, but he did it. He stared forward. While his eyes were still rather lifeless, they had a small spark in them.

He loved Gin. He loved him so much...

He was broken, inside. It would probably be that way...forever. He was certain he would never be able to love another again, not the way he loved Gin.

But...

He swallowed, briefly closing his eyes.

He had those who needed him. A war was hanging over their heads, and it could easily begin to affect their lives. He would _need_ to be there for them. They would _need_ him to be sane. Saner, at least.

It hurt so much...

His tears continued to dissipate into the water.

If Gin didn't want him anymore...he had no choice but to move on.

His lips moved. "Yes." His voice was low, but it was alive.

"Then don't give up."

Giving a nod, Ichigo took a moment to gather himself before moving to his feet. His body was more responsive. He stood facing the opposite direction as Zangetsu. "Thank you."

A smile formed on the white avatar's face. "You're my King. It's the Horse's job to stay beside their bleedin' King. Sometimes their very presence is enough to urge the King back to the battlefield."

Ichigo's lips spread into a small, but genuine, smile.

All at once, the water split where they stood. Its two halves moved back, dissipating into nothingness, and the houses morphed into severely weather-worn buildings that shot from the ground.

Ichigo ran forward, just in time to jump on the side of a broken skyscraper as it raised up. He rose with it, staring forward. He jumped from building side to building side, continuing forward.

Patches of hazy blue appeared in the sky, followed by some light streaming through dark grey clouds.

Zangetsu watched after him, walking up the side of a damaged building with his hands in his pockets as the world went sideways. "Your soul is strong, King." While he was far away, Ichigo could hear his voice clearly. "Keep goin' forward."

And Ichigo did just that, flying towards the heavens.

But, unbeknownst to him, yellow eyes peered after him from above.


	12. Interlude IV – No (Re)SPITE

Fleetwood. It was just as Gin remembered it, a peninsula of flatland known for its long-standing fishing industry. He rested atop the Lower Lighthouse, observing the cloudless, bright sky of midmorning. As he wasn't in a gigai, no one could see him...unless there were those few unlucky humans who could. He didn't think about them. He tried not to think about anything, really. But it was difficult. He didn't feel like wandering, but the only places he really knew in the world of the living had memories attached to them that he would much rather not remember.

It had been several days since he left Hueco Mundo. Several. They all blurred together, so he had no idea what day it was, anymore. Not that he knew from the get-go; he quite literally went from the desert world to the world of the living after the Yōkai spared his life.

Spared his life...

Is _that_ what happened...?

He idly ran his fingers up and down Shinsō's hilt, listlessly staring forward. His face was devoid of a smile, his lips relaxed, if not slightly turned downwards. His mind kept playing that scene, over and over.

The Gates of Hell appeared.

The chains were about to snare him...only to be stopped by none other than Ichigo...

The look on the young hybrid's face when he approached him...

The trembling, pale, sickly hand that reached out for him...

His hand reflexively grasped the hilt of his sword, then eased. He returned to caressing Shinsō's hilt, but his expression had darkened.

Hell was having a field day with his mind, this time around. Add that expression Ichigo made to the list of things he never wanted to see again. Add what happened when he connected to Ichigo's soul to the list of things he never wanted to feel again, hear again. Never, ever again. It was enough to shake him, and he _loathed_ it when things shook him up.

His face twisted into a scowl, and he stood.

Wordlessly, he opened a portal before him and stepped into it. He exited, then looked around. Without even needing to look for any significant landmarks, he knew he was in Japan. Where else would he go? Aside from the United Kingdom, he spent most of his time in the world of the living in Japan. And since there were a handful of places he knew of by heart, he was either in Kurikomo-shi, Karakura-chō, Naruki-shi, or Akazuki-chō. With a soft, relenting sigh, he jumped from out of the sky and down atop a high building. Bright lights below the horizon of the evening sky...A city, then. He took a single glance around.

Nestled over in that spot was the place he and Ichigo once went to get takoyaki. He and Ichigo once vigorously made out in the park over there. Down in the district over there was where he, Ichigo, Chad, Uryū, and Kon did karaoke. He once took Ichigo atop the nearby building and made love to him...

Kurikomo-shi, it was, then.

He grasped Shinsō again, but only for a moment. Why the hell did he come to the one place just filled—positively _overflowing_ —with painful memories? Wretchedly painful memories...He visibly grimaced, feeling a little sick at the reminder.

A reassuring, soothing thrum in his soul brought to his attention his hyperventilating. Breathing deeply, he turned away from the view of the city and sat against the parapet of the roof, covering his mouth.

 _Calm down_...

He exhaled, removing his hand to look to the sky.

Once he was breathing normally again, he reached out with his senses for something to distract himself with. It didn't take long to sense something of interest: A certain Bount that had a bone to pick with him. His signature smile formed on his face, and he disappeared, reappearing in the air as he fell to the ground.

The Bount wasn't alone. Gin could sense at least seven others, all of whom he once sensed, before. As he traveled towards their location, his smile grew. They never did really answer his question from all that time ago. He wondered idly if Hell had any idea what their responses would be if they were real. No harm in finding out, right? He had to take advantage of his "freedom" while he could.

It wasn't surprising that they were inside of the same old apartment complex as before, as it was their hideout. He didn't have to worry about getting in, as he knew a nifty trick. He entered the way anyone could, and when he came to the elevator, he forsook pressing any buttons and simply slipped through the elevator doors like a ghost. After entering the darkened space, he jumped up, passing through the elevator ceiling, and flew up to the third floor and again passed through the doors.

Landing on the floor, he casually slipped his hands into his pockets and walked forward. Once he came upon a door with an electronic card reader, he merely listened in on the voices beyond it.

"...and he could be in another world," said a masculine voice with a very polite manner of speech.

"Or, he could be in any number of places around the world." There was a sigh from what sounded like a woman. "He doesn't _have_ to be in another world."

"But that is the most probable situation?"

Gin hummed to himself, his smile growing. Of course, they were talking about Ichigo. He wouldn't be surprised if there was little else they spoke about. Ichigo was a fascinating, one-of-a-kind specimen. Anyone with half a brain would want to get their grubby hands on him...

His smile twitched.

Best not to think about it like that...

"Well, we can't do anything without him," said what sounded like a younger woman. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing. Nothing, for now."

That was a familiar voice. For a moment, Gin warred against himself. He didn't _have_ to ask them what they wanted with Ichigo. But...what else was there to do? Also, he had never visited this "side" of an illusion. Why not have some fun?

He stepped through the door, bringing to view a dimly lit area with a table, a bar to the right, several chairs, two couches, and a door at the right side of the bar. His smile widened at the faces that blanched upon seeing him.

Upon seeing their comrades' pallors, those who were in positions in which they couldn't see him spun to face the door. Their eyes grew large, and the face of one man in particular darkened angrily.

"You." Said man was tall, with neck-length hair that was slicked back and brown eyes that were blazing with hate. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, his frighteningly even voice at odds with his expression.

"I do what I want." Gin looked around, memorizing the faces of those in the room. His vision, however, was blocked by the man. He stared at him, his smile growing again.

"More like you're looking for excuses to kill us," said a young woman with magenta hair in two long ponytails. She was one of those who spoke before he entered the room. "Buzz off, won't you?"

"Aw. An' miss yer conversation 'bout Ichigo?"

A tall woman with black hair and brown skin stood from the bar. "Kūgo."

The man standing in front of Gin, presumably named Kūgo, narrowed his eyes. "I don't know how you got in...but I'd appreciate it if you left the way you came. We haven't forgiven you for murdering Eiri."

Ignoring them, Gin's head slightly tilted to the side as he wondered what Hell planned to have happen in this hallucination, as he never came upon Xcution before. That is, assuming that's what they were called; he still remembered that name appearing on the card Ichigo showed him, once. "What would ya do if I don't leave?"

They flinched as the atmosphere changed to one that was heavy and dangerous.

Lithe fingers caressed the blue hilt of a wakizashi before grasping it ever so delicately. "Yer all real outmatched...an' I ain't exactly 'n the best o' moods." He smiled pleasantly at them. "So. What do ya want with Ichigo? An' this time, no battin' around a bush, hmm?"

A few shivers passed around the room. At least two people fainted. As he glanced back at his companions, a bead of sweat rolled down from Kūgo's forehead. He then returned his gaze to Gin. "We want to bring about the fall of the Soul Society. We need Ichigo's help to do that." He narrowed his eyes. "Ichigo...is the ultimate trump card. The side that has him wins the war."

This insinuated, at least somewhat, that they were aware of the Soul Society civil war. "Yer wagin' a war against the Soul Society while it's in chaos?"

"Now would be the best time to strike..." Nothing else was said after that. Kūgo looked as if he could go on a bit more but was risking not to.

With a disinterested hum, Gin lowered his hand from his sword. The atmosphere became breathable, again. As some of the room's inhabitants sunk to the floor from exhaustion, he turned around to leave. He made a sound as if he remembered something. Glancing back at Kūgo, he said, "Yer too few in numbers ta do anythin' without Ichigo. An' ya ain't gettin' 'im." His voice was mocking, biting. He then gave a teasing wave before disappearing.

He reappeared atop the apartment complex, arms crossed, and sighed. Looking back up to the sky, he caught sight of the moon.

He missed Ichigo.

The _real_ Ichigo, not some twisted...

With another sigh, he kept his eyes to the heavens. There was nothing else to do. Maybe he should return to Hueco Mundo...

Back to where Ichigo was.

His lips pursed for a moment, then he relaxed.

He opened a portal and stepped inside.

Exiting, he appeared at the entrance to Las Noches. He sensed that the guardian Arrancar spotted him but didn't approach. Wise move.

Not in the mood to deal with anyone, he sped through the halls until he arrived at more familiar rooms and hallways. Well, technically, the whole fortress was unbelievably familiar to him, but these were homelier. But what immediately came to his attention was how several of the inhabitants were missing. Those closest to him were Tessai, Jinta and Ururu. And he hadn't seen them once since he awoke.

As if aware of his thoughts, of all people, Ururu neared his location. He remained still in the hall, looking into the direction she was coming from. She was shortly followed by Jinta, who was followed by Tessai. When they came into view, he flashed a smile at them.

"Where's everybody?" he asked, getting right to the point.

Jinta and Ururu had grown since he last saw them. They were already growing fast, but now, he barely recognized them. Their bodies were more mature, with Jinta standing much taller than before with slicked back hair and noticeable muscle. Ururu wasn't wearing pigtails anymore, her hair falling over her shoulders and her bangs only between her eyes.

Jinta shoved his hands in his pockets, staring warily at Gin. "Some Shinigami arrived in Hueco Mundo and are being dealt with."

Gin hummed. It was starting...

Whatever. It wasn't his business. Though, he was a bit unnerved by seeing the three. They never, _ever_ showed up in his previous hallucinations, much like Shinsō. What did _this_ mean...?

He shrugged and disappeared. He soon found himself walking down a familiar hall leading into the infirmary. Why he was doing so, he had an idea. It was likely that Ichigo was back inside, as his soul was undoubtedly damaged after the whole Yōkai incident; Gin didn't have to be an expert to know that. Any soul would either be destroyed or irreparably damaged after something like that.

But not Ichigo's...He was strong.

Internally, Gin scowled at his thoughts.

There he was, thinking about Ichigo, again...

Before he knew what he was doing, he stopped at the door to Ichigo's room. The hybrid's reiatsu couldn't be sensed, again. It probably would be, soon, if it was still fluctuating. He wasn't even sure if Ichigo was awake or not. Yet, here he was.

Quietly, he opened the door.

His gaze snapped to the hybrid's face, but he relaxed. Ichigo's eyes were closed, his head slightly tilted to the side. He was breathing with the aid of an oxygen mask. Soft beeps filled the room, followed by the low sound of the oxygen flowing. Gin stepped inside, slowly closing the door behind him. He walked to the foot of the bed, looking up the supine form.

What was he to do? Why did he come into the room...?

Was it...longing? Yearning?

He narrowed his eyes, but came closer, anyway. It was as if he was drawn to the hybrid, and he hated that. He no longer had the mark on his neck after he died Hell for the first time. There was no reason for him to be drawn to Ichigo, anymore. So he told himself. Maybe he wanted to hurt Ichigo while he was in his weakened condition. That would be ideal...

There was a soft thrum within him; Shinsō was gently advising him not to do that. That he would regret it.

Ever since he woke up...Things were different. He would be lying if he didn't admit that much. In the previous illusions, he was often saved from Hell by Ichigo. There was great detail. Great fights, Ichigo showing off his skill, obliteration of Hell itself from the hybrid's might. The first time it happened, Gin fell for it. It was easy to. He fell _so hard_...

Kisuke was there. The Vizard. Kon, Chad, Uryū. Some of the Arrancar. It was elaborate, really. Truly a testament to Hell's power. And then...time alone with Ichigo came, inevitably. They even returned to their old room in Las Noches. First, they talked. Then, they savored each other's presence. Then...it happened. Intercourse. And it went to literal Hell from there.

Shutting his eyes, Gin threw those memories far, far away. They would come back to him like a boomerang, in time. But for now, he really didn't want to remember _that_. Or any other time with Ichigo, really.

But...

This illusion was true torture. This fake Ichigo had superb acting, pulling at the ripped remains of Gin's heartstrings. The whole Yōkai spiel, the possession...and whatever the hell was going on, now. It was new, but nothing new, in actuality. Scenarios like these had happened, before. And so many times, Gin fell for it, mostly from the yearning he never knew he was capable of to see Ichigo again and from guilt of how he left the hybrid in the Soul Society. He knew he belonged in Hell. He fought against it, in the beginning, back when he thought Ichigo had come for him. But now...now he knew Hell was where he belonged. Absolutely.

"'M sorry, Ichigo..." He gazed at the young man's face. "I ain't the same, no more..."

He wasn't speaking to his faux lover, but the real Ichigo. He could only hope he could be reincarnated, one day...and find Ichigo, again.

He frowned at himself and took a few steps back. He then spun around and left the room.

Ridiculous.

He was falling for the illusion, again.

He didn't look back as he left, and so he didn't see Ichigo's eyelids flutter.

~:Edgr:E:~

Ocher eyes slowly opened. They weren't heavy, they weren't tired. Staring forward, Ichigo shifted on the bed at a strange feeling inside of himself. The room was dimly lit, but he spotted a door to his far upper left. He recognized his location after a few seconds. It was one of the infirmary rooms in the portion of Las Noches occupied by himself and his companions.

His eyes shifted forward again as he felt with his external senses. He was hooked up to all sorts of machines that beeped at his upper sides, including a breathing mask over his nose and mouth. Of course, he had an IV in his arm. His throat felt strange, but not uncomfortable. He coughed a little, and that seemed to help.

He had only one question in his mind after seeing all of this.

How the hell long had he been asleep? He was thinking at least a week or two, and obviously in not very good condition, at that. He had defibrillators on his chest, was hooked to a catheter, for crying out loud...

Patiently, he waited. Someone would be there shortly, if they were doing their job right. Until then, he closed his eyes, getting his thoughts together.

There was a lull of quiet in his mind. It was a bit disconcerting. He was used to chaos in his mind, thoughts, emotions, memories. But for the moment—and he knew it would only be a moment—there was quiet. The presence of the Yōkai was gone from within him, but his soul still didn't feel quite right.

At least he wasn't in pain anymore...

A little more observation told him Gin had been in the room, recently. He couldn't even be excited at that. Not anymore.

It didn't mean anything...

Not anymore.

~:Edgr:E:~

He found himself back in his inner world, but something was off about it. He just couldn't figure out what. It looked severely worse for wear, broken buildings with missing or shattered windows, missing parts, and some were barely skyscrapers at all because they were broken in half. He didn't immediately see Zangetsu, either. It took a moment, but when he finally took notice of the white form behind him, he had come to the conclusion he wasn't going to like what he was likely to be told.

He turned around to face his zanpakutō avatar. "What's going on?" His eyes went to Zangetsu's left as Yabach was also present.

The white avatar sighed heavily, briskly. "That whole Yōkai business isn't over, yet."

Ichigo nearly blanched, his lips parting in shock. He never wanted to go through that pain, be in that condition, _ever again_. It was the worst pain he ever experienced, and he _died_ from wounds, before. But that was a thoroughly unnatural incident he wouldn't wish on anyone.

"What do you mean? That Yōkai is still inside me?" He looked around for a foreign presence but didn't notice anything.

Both Zangetsu and Yabach sighed, as if exasperated, like they did everything they could to prevent what was happening. "Come out," Zangetsu called.

From above, there was the sound of flapping wings. Ichigo looked up too late, as whatever it was above him landed on the ground. Slowly, he looked at this new spirit.

It was similar in appearance to the Yōkai in only its visage of pale skin and black hair. Or, rather, _his_ visage; going by appearance, it was better if Ichigo addressed it that way. The spirit was otherwise sporting golden eyes and dressed in completely different clothes consisting of an ankle-length, dark red coat resembling a robe with an off-white fur collar. A wide sash at his waist, also off-white, had a red line going through it. He had cuffs at the ends of his long sleeves that were off white, and to finish it off, he had black, pointed boots to balance out the black of his hair.

Not a second after seeing him, Ichigo stood directly in front of him, holding him by his coat. "What the _fuck_ are you doing in here?" he growled, eyes flashing to black and white.

With the same unnerving, annoying calm as the Yōkai, the spirit looked him in the eye. "I am the remnant of the Yōkai that fused with your soul. You cannot be rid of me."

Eyes widening, bleeding back to ocher, Ichigo let him go and took a step back. "Wha..." He grasped frantically for words, practically sputtering in shock.

 _Fused_ with his _soul_...?

The meaning behind these words didn't get past him, and he began to laugh humorlessly, running a hand through his hair. "I'm...I'm...part...Yōkai."

"Yes...in a way. Specifically Tengu. My incarnation was banished to Hell but was given the duty to be a Guardian. Therefore, you also have some dominion over Hell."

Closing his eyes, Ichigo continued to laugh and tilted his head up. That did explain why he was able to stop the chains of Hell from taking Gin back. At the reminder, he winced.

Of all the things to come from that ordeal...

"My soul...is really fucked up," he chuckled, though his expression conveyed sadness and pain. As if he needed anything else to make him a freak of nature.

"Zangetsu and I tried everything to eject him from your soul," Yabach said softly. "It is simply not possible."

"He's a part of you, now," said Zangetsu, "whether we like it or not."

"Fine." Ichigo was too tired, too weary, too _overwhelmed_ to fight against this. It wouldn't do him any good, anyway. He glanced at the new spirit harbored within him. "Do you have a name?"

The spirit nodded. "My name is Muramasa."

~:Edgr:E:~

Ocher eyes fluttered open again. Ichigo blinked at the white ceiling, then looked to his left to give the person standing near a small smile.

"Chad..." he murmured. "It's been a while."

The Fullbringer managed a genuine smile back. "I just came by to visit. It's good to see you awake, again. You worried us."

"Tell me about it..."

Whether that was meant literally or not, Chad told him, anyway. "You've been unconscious for two weeks. During the first and a day, you were on life support."

Orange brows tightened. His soul must have been wretchedly damaged, after all. "What happened...?"

Chad hesitated. He took a moment, then said, "After the Yōkai was removed from you, you went unconscious and almost died. But, a few days ago, you started breathing again on your own. Yesterday, you started recovering rapidly, though your regeneration still hasn't returned." He hesitated again. "Do you remember anything?"

"No." Ichigo easily took this all in. He briefly wondered if Muramasa had anything to do with his recovery. How did Yōkai heal? Surely, they had some kind of special regeneration of their own.

Speaking of Muramasa...

"Can you get Kisuke-san?" he asked.

Chad nodded and left the room. The door was kept partially open, allowing Ichigo to see some of the main infirmary space. Chad said something to Solena, who immediately came over and into the room.

She smiled at him. "Kurosaki-san. How are you feeling?" She neared to check his vitals.

He shrugged a bit. "Okay. What with my condition and all..."

She made a face of understanding. "Well...you seem to have recovered tremendously. Not well enough to get off bed rest, but good enough." Her head turned to look at the door as Kisuke approached.

She left the room and Kisuke entered. The former shopkeeper smiled amiably at him. "Ichigo-san. It's good to see you back with us." He came to and sat in the chair at the bedside. "You wished to see me?"

"My soul..." Ichigo rubbed at his chest. "What's its official condition?" he asked, though he already knew.

If Kisuke still had his signature hat, his eyes would be shaded as he glanced down. "Not fully recovered, I'm afraid. It may be some time until that happens. Though, with your track record, it may take a shorter while than expected." He adjusted himself in the chair. "There was also something else..."

"Yeah. I know." Ichigo stared at the ceiling. "My soul is part Yōkai."

Closing his eyes, Kisuke gave a small nod. "I see."

An appropriate response from the man. Ichigo didn't really expect anything else. What more was there to say? "It's...the part of the Yōkai that fused with me. I guess it was taken out a bit too late." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It is what it is..."

At his calm demeanor, Kisuke looked the young man over. He had been through so much in the past five years, far more than most people, even Shinigami, experienced in their lifetimes. And in such a short amount of time...It was a miracle Ichigo was still sane.

That is, _if_ he was sane...But Kisuke wasn't too keen on testing that, in the moment. He gave the hybrid a nod. "Rest, Ichigo-san. Everyone will want to see you, but for now, they can wait."

Continuing to stare forward, Ichigo gave a small nod.

Kisuke stood and repositioned the chair. He walked to the door, then glanced back. Ichigo's eyes were closed, his head slightly tilted downwards.

A rueful smile formed on Kisuke's face. He closed the door behind him.

Turning around, he shook his head at the small gathering that had formed. "He's sleeping," he announced.

Chad, Uryū and Kon were perfectly understanding. "Thank goodness he woke up," said Uryū with a sigh.

"Yeah..." Kon stared at the door, a crease between his brows. "I wonder what made him wake up."

All four of them glanced at one another.

Gin _had_ just returned from his own disappearing act. Was it so far-fetched to consider that awoke Ichigo from his coma? Their souls were connected; there was no mistaking that. If that was what it took to awaken Ichigo...they had a connection even they were unaware of.

"Guys!" Mashirō appeared in the space, her already large hazel eyes even wider. She jumped up and down. "You...will not _believe_ who is residing in our old home in Akazuki Town!"

Once more, the four men looked at each other.

Without prompt, all five of them disappeared.

* * *

 **A/N:** I

N

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And with this... _Echoup de grâce: Endure_...is OVER! Wow. This is a track record of completing a story. Less than a month! Almost exactly a month, actually. If not...a day after. I am thoroughly impressed with myself.

Y'all thought Ichigo and Gin were getting back together, didn't you?! NOT! *Ducks for cover* I regret nothing...!

Cheers for whoever remembers who Muramasa is without having to look him up! Keep in mind that I had to modify him to fit the series, of course.

I'm worried this chapter may seem disjointed, not very clear. Let me know if it is. I also feel it might be a little too fast? Like things are happening too quickly...? It's difficult to have time pass when nothing happens...

...Except, something _did_ happen during the two weeks. When Gin returned and found the others gone, they were doing _something_. And that led to the "voice" that was calling Gin's name, here. Not to mention someone is/was in the Vizard's old home in Akazuki Town. I wonder what's goin' on...? ;)

Whew. So, I hope this helped. Chapters like these make me nervous.

Just like with _Cache_ , this is not the end! Several more stories and compilations will come after this both canon (my canon) compliant and in AUs. And also like _Cache_ , there will be at least two or three additional "tracks" to this album! But as it stands...the story is over! These tracks may take a little longer to come out than the previous chapters have, but we'll see. For all I know, I'm inadvertently lying.

The first compilation is currently called _Repetition: The Echo Series_ and is a collection of discarded chapters and scenes from _Echough_ , _Cache_ , _Endure_ , and whatever else comes afterward. It can be read on AO3.

Please let me know your thoughts, what you think will happen next, cheers, sobs, angry vents, complaints, anything! By all means, please! Thank you so much for coming along with me on this journey into the AU Bleach world of the Echo Series! Stay tuuuned...~


	13. Bonus Track: To the Chaos Inside

This was a nightmare come true.

"Gin!"

He flew from the room, refusing to look back.

"Gin! _Gin...!_ "

 _No._

 _No..._

 _NO._

Gin almost covered his ears as he ran. Initially, the person was running behind him, but then someone else intercepted and they both stopped.

Good.

 _Stay away._

In moments, everything was still. Quiet. Unintentionally, he found himself near the living quarters and paused when he realized it. Only when he was certain it was safe did he exhale, hands tightening into fists.

His skin crawled.

Shuddering, he briefly shut his eyes. He was in Hell, alright...

Yet, he was confused. He knew this was the plan, the ploy, but he couldn't shut his mind off. He couldn't make it shut up, make it stop wondering. Was this true? Was this Hell? Was this a hallucination?

The illusions of the past were pushy about how real they were. Caring looks were giving to him, people urged him calmly and kindly that he wasn't hallucinating, that they knew he needed time to recover. People walked on eggshells around him. And while that initially began the same way...now it seemed as if everyone was leaving him to his own devices, not daring to interfere with his recovery.

It was...

He hated how confused he was becoming.

" _Risk it_."

He frowned. "No."

Shinsō thrummed within him. " _What do you have to lose if this is all an illusion?_ "

Remaining silent, he shook his head and continued walking.

" _If you are hallucinating—which you are not—it will have to end, eventually. But, if it isn't a hallucination—and it is not—you have_ everything _to gain_."

Panic began to rise within him, and he stopped in his tracks.

This was true. And he hated it. But...he was terrified of what it meant if it was true.

Shinsō materialized behind him, holding him close to her chest. "You cannot run forever, Gin..." She sounded pained.

He said nothing, his eyes shutting again.

"Trust me, as you always have."

Recalling how he never saw her in his previous hallucinations—not once, not ever—until now...he warred within himself. He physically twitched from the internal conflict, eyelids fluttering and body beginning to tremble.

" _Please_."

And he collapsed.

Shinsō fell with him, holding him even closer, tenderly, her bellowing clothes enveloping him, cradling him.

His jaw was locked, but he shuddered, his lower lip trembling.

He hated it.

He hated everything.

The last time he felt so much hate was when he vowed to kill Aizen. But this hate, this abhorrence, _far_ surpassed that. That was a matchstick's flame. This was a forest fire, eating and licking at and searing his soul.

What _did_ he have to lose...?

Nothing.

And why did he try to avoid his fate, anyway? This was Hell—he _deserved_ torture, to go insane.

Fine.

 _Fine_...

He was tired... _So tired_...

He gave a shuddering exhale, turning his head into the safety of Shinsō's garb. His voice choking, low and barely audible, he murmured, "I'll...trust ya..."

The words were like signing his own death warrant.

But if he couldn't trust his own soul, there was no point to anything.

And if this was a hallucination...if this wasn't real...he wouldn't be able to handle it. Not again.

Not after this.


End file.
